Rights and Freedoms
Charlie Hebdo V 18C: no contest
Charlie Hebdo would have risked being censored by the courts, but self-censorship is the reality of Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.
News
Rights and Freedoms
Rights and Freedoms
Fraser Lecture 2014
Professor Gillian Triggs President Australian Human Rights Commission Fraser Lecture Canberra Check against delivery Thank you Dr Andrew Leigh for your invitation and introduction. It is an honour to be here in your electorate of Fraser in north Canberra. I would like to acknowledge that we meet on...
Rights and Freedoms
Celebration of brave journalism
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Introduction and acknowledgement Thank you Andrew for your welcome. Before I begin I would like to acknowledge that we meet on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay my respects to elders, past and present. May I also acknowledge Peter Greste’s parents and...
Rights and Freedoms
The government should fix two free-speech obstacles together: 35P and 18C
The Abbott government should correct the festering sores of 35P of National Security Legislation and 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act together. Since the passage of Section 35P of the National Security Legislation Amendment Bill a number of journalists have decried the threat to free speech of...
Rights and Freedoms
Speak up out of respect for rights and culture
To advance human rights we need to promote a culture of respect for everyone exercising their choice and freedoms. On a day-to-day basis, human rights probably appear abstract for most Australians. The term often gets raised in discussion about how we are treating asylum seekers, or when we discuss...
Rights and Freedoms
Even in pursuit of valid goals, let's stop sacrificing principles and rights
In pursuit of legitimately tackling isolated criminal behaviour, Parliaments are reversing the basic principle of liberal democracy by criminalising the exercise of human rights and prescribing lawful activity.
Rights and Freedoms
Lessons from RDA debate should not be forgotten - Opinion piece
A uniting, not dividing, approach is needed to reform restrictions on free speech, writes Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson, in an opinion piece first published in The Australian on 9 August 2014. View the news story from the Commission's website.
Rights and Freedoms
Starting a national conversation about free speech - Opinion piece
In an opinion piece for the Sydney Morning Herald, Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson says this week's Free Speech Symposium, together with the Prime Minister's decision not to proceed with changes to the Racial Discrimination Act, marks the beginning of a national conversation about free speech. V...
Rights and Freedoms
Accessing Justice – The Australian Experience
20th International AIDS Conference, Melbourne
Rights and Freedoms
The Forgotten Freedoms – Freedom of Religion
‘The Forgotten Freedoms – Freedom of Religion’ Blackfriars Lecture Australian Catholic University Tim Wilson Human Rights Commissioner Australian Human Rights Commission Tuesday 29 May 2014 Introduction Thank you for your kind introduction. I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional...
Rights and Freedoms
Twitter trolls have a right to offend – but we don't have to listen
Storms on social media demonstrate we don't need laws to regulate free speech – social norms are enough Internet outrage tells us more about how we ensure civil conduct face-to-face, than how we behave online. People behave in strange ways online. But social media provides the clearest evidence of...
Rights and Freedoms
Opening minds to ‘forgotten freedoms’
Opinion by Human Rights Commissioner, Tim Wilson. First published in The Australian on 17 May 2014. Reform is not the end of debating free speech in Australia, it is the beginning The “forgotten freedoms” provide the foundations of our liberal democracy, and we have to reconnect with them. There are...
Rights and Freedoms
The freedom wars and the future of human rights in Australia
Address to the National Press Club, Canberra