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Even before birth, Australian children are the targets of technology that collects their data and threatens their privacy – but right now we have an opportunity to protect them and future generations. Parents who use pregnancy apps or share ultrasounds on social media can expect information about their children to be collected and sold to advertisers for profit. Once a child is born, baby…

Discover how a former Human Rights Commissioner was asked whether the Racial Discrimination Act impinges on freedom of expression under international law.

Lorraine Finlay, Human Rights Commissioner   As we approach international Human Rights Day on 10 December – which this year marks the 75th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights – the ongoing fallout from the NZYQ High Court decision continues to highlight both the importance and complexity of promoting and protecting human rights. The passing of the Migration Amendment (Bridging…

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

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…

Learn about the right to seek asylum from persecution.

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 people behaving on their first instinct. All that the internet has demonstrated is there were…

Read more about how big technology companies' race to develop generative AI products is threatening human rights.

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 …