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In an opinion piece published in The Mandarin, Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay decries Australia’s ongoing failures in torture protection. The piece was published on the 1989 anniversary of Australia signing up to the UN Convention Against Torture.

National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds had an op-ed published in the Canberra Times criticising the lack of government accountability for the protection of children. This comes in the wake of recent allegations of child abuse across several childcare centres in Melbourne.

Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman reflects on how two speeches from two Prime Ministers, half a century apart, hold the key to ending racism. It comes at a significant marker in Australia’s history, fifty years since the Racial Discrimination Act came into effect.

In an an opinion piece for The Canberra Times, Commission President Hugh de Kretser reflects on how the truth-telling process can change the perspectives of non-Indigenous Australians like himself. It follows this week's publication of the final reports of the Yoorrook Justice Commission, the first formal truth-telling inquiry into injustices against First Peoples in Victoria.

Opinion piece | Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay Earlier this month the Australian Human Rights Commission released Collateral Damage: What the untold stories from the COVID-19 pandemic reveal about human rights in Australia. In the five years since COVID-19 reached Australia, this report is the first to assess the country’s pandemic response through a human rights lens. It is…

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.

The pandemic’s exposure of deep inequalities highlights the urgent need for human rights-centred emergency responses.

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…