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Rights and Freedoms
11 March 2025VideoCommission launches COVID-19 pandemic response report
The Commission has released a major new report about the COVID-19 pandemic, which highlights how critical gaps in the emergency response could be improved upon in future crises. -
Rights and Freedoms
1 December 2020Video
Balancing Human Rights During COVID19
Protecting public health and protecting human rights are not mutually exclusive choices – but how do we keep the balance between the two? What safeguards do we need to protect rights and freedoms in Australia and prevent the ‘creeping authoritarianism’ we have witnessed elsewhere in the world? These were just some of the big questions of our time discussed by the panellists during the … -
Rights and Freedoms
9 April 2020E-bulletin (Monthly)
Community update: COVID-19 (April 2020)
Community Alert Commissioner Update - COVID-19 Dear friends, We are living through an extraordinary challenge for our society and our community—A public health crisis the world has not seen since the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918. These remarkable times have seen our governments take unprecedented measures to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic to save lives. The actions taken by our … -
Rights and Freedoms
30 October 2024News story
COVID Review a good start, but human toll must be recognised
The findings of a federal review into the country’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted more needs to be done by all levels of governments to acknowledge the human cost of the pandemic response and ultimately restore public trust, says Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner, Lorraine Finlay. -
Rights and Freedoms
1 May 2021Media Release
Travel ban and sanctions on Australians travelling from India
The travel ban on Australian citizens returning from India, accompanied by criminal sanctions under the Biosecurity Act, raises serious human rights concerns. The Commission supports the continuation of aid to the Indian Government as it copes with the current COVID-19 crisis, but the Commission holds deep concerns about these extraordinary new restrictions on Australians returning to… -
Rights and Freedoms
18 November 2021Opinion piece
Loss of freedoms and rights has harmed us
OPINION November 18, 2021 Ronald Reagan famously said that “freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction”. For many Australians, until recently, freedom has been something we have largely been able to take for granted in our daily lives. But with millions of Australians only recently emerging from lengthy lockdowns, and every single one of us still… -
Rights and Freedoms
21 April 2020Opinion piece
Resisting extremism in a pandemic
When the COVID-19 pandemic spread to this big island of ours, our leaders made a momentous decision: they decided to save as many human lives as possible. This was the right decision. It shows we as a country care about human life above all else. But now we face an even harder question: how to save lives while preventing economic collapse and staying true to our democratic values? In order… -
Rights and Freedoms
11 December 2020Video
Rosemary Kayess: Human Rights Day Oration 2020
Watch Human Rights Medal winner Rosemary Kayess present the 2020 Human Rights Day Oration. Rosemary Kayess is a leading human rights advocate for people with disability in Australia and worldwide. Rosemary contributed to drafting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and successfully lobbied for its ratification in Australia. Last year, Rosemary was … -
Rights and Freedoms
28 July 2020Opinion piece
Wearing a mask will protect human liberties, not infringe upon them
There’s been a lot of talk, anger and resistance to the changes of our rights and freedoms as Australia deals with the COVID-19 pandemic. In some way or another, each and every one of us has encountered restrictions – on our freedom of movement, the right to peaceful protest, the ability to engage in public areas without wearing masks and the requirement to provide personal information for… -
Rights and Freedoms
9 March 2023Media Release
Commission launches model for an Australian Human Rights Act
Australia is the only liberal democracy that does not have an act or charter of rights at the national level, and there are currently very few legal protections for the fundamental rights of Australians.