Rights and Freedoms
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
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
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
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
20th International AIDS Conference, Melbourne
Rights and Freedoms
It is a great pleasure to deliver a Blackfriars Lecture. A few weeks ago I gave a speech to the Sydney Institute outlining the approach I plan to take to human rights as the Federal Commissioner titled ‘The Forgotten Freedoms’. In this speech I outlined that I have concerns about the key freedoms of expression, worship, association and property rights. Reasserting them will be the focus of my tenure as Human Rights Commissioner.
Rights and Freedoms
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
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
Address to the National Press Club, Canberra
Rights and Freedoms
Before anyone screams "free speech", they should actually know what they are talking about. Earlier this week the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet released new social media protocols. The protocols limit the capacity of public servants to make statements that are "harsh or extreme in their...
Rights and Freedoms
Arguing that old rich white men have too much power is just a backdoor attempt at censorship, writes Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson, in an opinion piece first published on 5 April 2014 in The Australian.
Rights and Freedoms
Acknowledgements Thank you for your kind introduction. I would like to begin by acknowledging the Turrbal People, the traditional owners of the lands on which we are meeting today. I would also like to acknowledge: The Honourable Justice, Margaret McMurdo AC Queensland Law Society President, Ian...
Rights and Freedoms
THE proposed amendments to the Racial Discrimination Act provide the basis for correcting the legal limits of free speech, promoting pluralism, opposing reprehensible racism and highlighting the importance of responsibility. Arguably the most important change is assessing an 18C violation based on...
