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Commission – General
13 March 2023Opinion pieceA national Human Rights Act needs to be introduced in Australia
Opinion piece by Commission President Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM, first published in the Canberra Times. -
Rights and Freedoms
20 January 2023Opinion pieceAustralia needs to deliver on our treaty promises
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. -
Rights and Freedoms
18 March 2022Opinion piece
Time for review on COVID-19 border and quarantine restrictions
OPINION With the McGowan Government announcing earlier this week that the Western Australian hard border will ease on February 5, 2022, Australia is inching ever closer to border closures becoming a thing of the past. But while many of us would like this to be true, it is important to realise that we’re not there yet. While border restrictions are easing around Australia and State premiers… -
Rights and Freedoms
18 March 2022Opinion piece
What is happening in Ukraine should matter to every Australian
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 … -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
18 March 2022Opinion pieceWe will not sit down or stand to the side
OPINION There are moments in history where the forces of what has come before and the energy of the present reconfigure the social and political landscape. In Australia and around the globe, reckoning with misogyny and the interrelated issues of systemic racism and patriarchal destruction has been centuries in the making. On Tuesday, on International Women’s Day, a new play by Victoria… -
Rights and Freedoms
21 January 2022Opinion piece
Novak Djokovic drew global attention to Australia's immigration detention regime. Now we need proper scrutiny of all places of detention
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… -
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… -
Age Discrimination
1 October 2021Opinion pieceGenerational divide? It’s more myth than reality
Although antagonism between the generations is often seen as inevitable, the ‘generational wars’ we hear about are not supported by Australians themselves. A new report by the Australian Human Rights Commission, What’s age got to do with it? A snapshot of ageism across the Australian lifespan, examines what young adult, middle-aged and older Australians really think about age and ageism… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
13 September 2021Opinion piece
Incorporating UNDRIP into Australian law would kickstart important progress
Given the challenges we face collectively, it is all too seldom that the world's First Nations peoples are able to come together to develop shared solutions. When we do, we achieve great things. -
Children's Rights
27 July 2021Opinion pieceProtect children from data surveillance
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…