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Rights and Freedoms
24 March 2025Opinion pieceCOVID report provides reality check on human rights during pandemic
Opinion piece from Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay responding to criticism of the Commision's recently released report Collateral Damage: What the untold stories from the COVID-19 pandemic reveal about human rights in Australia. -
Business and Human Rights
13 March 2025Opinion pieceFive years since COVID-19, there are lessons we must act on
The pandemic’s exposure of deep inequalities highlights the urgent need for human rights-centred emergency responses. -
Race Discrimination
5 March 2025Opinion pieceWould Sam Kerr have been charged if she were a man – or white – or straight?
This opinion piece by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Dr Anna Cody and Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman was published in The Guardian. Imagine how this case would have played out for the thousands of women of colour who don’t have Kerr’s platform, financial resources or legal support. Sam Kerr is one of the most celebrated football players in the world. Captain of the… -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
12 December 2024Opinion pieceWomen in immigration detention are trapped in a system designed for men. Many have not hugged a family member in years
In an opinion piece published in The Guardian, Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay Commissioner Finlay describes the harrowing experiences faced by many women in immigration detention and calls for urgent reform to address these human rights failures. It follows the release of the AHRC report into the issue. -
Children's Rights
10 December 2024Opinion pieceAfter the social media ban, is the job done on child safety and wellbeing?
When the backslapping over the successful passing of the social media ban legislation has finished, there is a significant amount of work that still needs to be done to improve child safety and wellbeing in Australia. -
Disability Rights
5 December 2024Opinion pieceIt’s time disability reform became an election commitment
In an opinion piece published in The Mandarin, Disability Discrimination Commissioner Rosemary Kayess urges political leaders to commit to disability reform ahead of the 2025 Federal election. -
Rights and Freedoms
4 December 2024Opinion piece
The 41,000 urgent priorities our new anti-slavery commissioner has to tackle
In an opinion piece published in the Sydney Morning Herald, Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay reflects on the prevalence of modern slavery in Australia, as she welcomes the appointment of the country's inaugural Anti-Slavery Commissioner. -
Children's Rights
26 November 2024Opinion piece
Australian parents and kids deserve better
In a joint op-ed, National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds and Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay contend that the proposed ban on social media access for Australians under 16 merely addresses surface issues without improving overall safety on these platforms. -
Business and Human Rights
6 November 2024Opinion piece
Pandemic probe: Statistics can’t capture the loss of trust and confidence
The Covid-19 response inquiry report is an important first step, but there is much more that needs to be done if the government wants to start rebuilding public trust. The number one lesson should be that response measures do not operate in a vacuum. The full human impact needs to be understood and human rights need to be embedded into future emergency responses. The 877-page inquiry report… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
6 November 2024Opinion pieceThe year our Voice broke: The fallout from the failed referendum
“It’s gone.” That’s what Mick Gooda said to me plaintively half an hour into counting the votes to enshrine a First Nations Voice to parliament in our constitution on October 14, 2023. I’d started that day – a year ago today – with a high level of optimism that Australia was going to do this, that Australia would get this right, that Australia would make history. How wrong I was. Instead,…