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Find out more about how Australia can be a leader in responsible and ethical artificial intelligence.

As with any agreement, there are certain requirements that OPCAT signatories need to fulfill, and Australia has been given longer than any other country to meet our OPCAT commitments. Today – 20 January 2023 – is our extended compliance deadline, and Australia has failed to deliver on our promises.

Opinion piece by Commission President Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM, first published in the Canberra Times.

Authors Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins and President of the Australian Human Rights Commission Professor Gillian Triggs In March 2010, shortly after making the decision to leave her abusive husband after more than 20 years of violence, Zahra Abrahimzadeh was stabbed to death in front of 300 witnesses inside the Adelaide Convention Centre. Two years later, her husband was…

Decades of reports and inquiries have largely echoed what Indigenous leaders have long asked for: we want Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to be at the heart of any reform agenda involving our people, says Robynne Quiggin. The 2016 Social Justice and Native Title Report details the experience of human rights and native title by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in…

This is an often depressing tour that we at the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) undertake every year to monitor the conditions of immigration detention in Australia for compliance with internationally recognised human rights obligations. We tour and inspect the facilities, interview the staff and meet with the detainees themselves.

Since lockdown restrictions were introduced in March, the national 24/7 counselling and support service Kids Helpline has received a significant increase in the volume of children and young people seeking help, up 24% to the end of August compared to 2019. The concerns they raised in counselling sessions provide important insights into how governments, parents and educators can better…

One unintended consequence of the explosion of digital technology is the proliferation of online child exploitation material – and increased opportunities for child sex offenders to connect with other offenders. This is the central finding of Anti-Slavery Australia’s Behind the Screen: Online Child Exploitation in Australia report. That report is the first comprehensive summary of Australia…

In the post-September 11 world, debate about counter-terrorism is often characterised as an argument between 'the realists', who appreciate the need for tough new counter-terrorism laws, and 'the out of touch', who fail to take the terrorist threat seriously.

Novak Djokovic’s recent detention at Melbourne’s Park Hotel drew international attention to Australia’s use of hotels as Alternative Places of Detention by immigration authorities. But while Djokovic’s detention was measured in days, others still remaining in the Park Hotel measure their detention in years. Hotels are simply not appropriate places to detain people for extended periods. The…

Read the Human Rights Commissioner, Ms Lorraine Finlay's op-ed about the terms of reference for the inquiry in Australia's pandemic response. Understanding the full human cost of the pandemic is vital for ensuring a more effective response for future public emergencies.

Learn more about how Neuralink's successful implantation could raise human rights issues about neurotechnology.

Read an opinion piece from Australia's Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay raising concerns about the passage of new laws responding to the fallout from the recent NZYQ High Court decision.

Learn more about the federal government’s proposed Communications Legislation Amendment (Combating Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill.

OPINION There is almost 13,000km between Australia and Ukraine. It is literally on the other side of the world. Given the vast distances that separate us, it would be easy to claim that what happens there has nothing to do with us. That Australia should focus instead on the many challenges we face at home and leave the rest of the world to deal with their own problems. That would be a grave …

Six weeks ago I returned to my traditional homeland near Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia. Thanks to modern technology, I am working remotely and continuing my duties as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. Like many Aboriginal people, I chose to return to Country because COVID-19 travel restrictions made homeland communities the safest place to see out the…

Six weeks ago I returned to my traditional homeland near Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia. Thanks to modern technology, I am working remotely and continuing my duties as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. Like many Aboriginal people, I chose to return to country because COVID-19 travel restrictions made homeland communities the safest place to see out the…

In presenting last week’s Federal Budget, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said, “we will get through this together.” Togetherness is an important value in Australia. It speaks to the basic liberal democratic principle that no-one in our community should be left behind. While much of last week’s Budget analysis focused on the details of tax breaks and tax cuts, at a basic level the Budget is also a…

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…

This opinion piece by Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay appeared in The Australian on Monday 15 May 2023. In George Orwell's 1984, the Ministry of Truth exercises absolute control of information according to The Party ethos, “Who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present, controls the past”. If the Ministry of Truth existed today, a more accurate slogan would…