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Rights and Freedoms
6 November 2015Opinion pieceFinding a balance for freedom of religion
Those of different beliefs need to be active in reshaping the conversation about religious freedom if it is to be preserved in law. Yesterday, the Australian Human Rights Commission hosted the first of many religious freedom round tables. These round tables have resulted from a year-long consultation identifying that there are tensions surrounding the way religion is treated in culture and… -
Rights and Freedoms
12 October 2015Opinion piece
Why Geert Wilders should be allowed to visit Australia
Our borders should not be used to control access to unpopular ideas, and in the internet age such efforts are futile. According to reports, Lebanese Muslim Association president Samier Dandan has advised the Prime Minister not to grant a visa to controversial Dutch MP, Geert Wilders, using the example of denying a visa to American musician Chris Brown as precedent. Chris Brown's convictions… -
Children's Rights
25 September 2015Opinion pieceDomestic violence: $100 million funding raises hope in a week of tragedy
By Professor Gillian Triggs and Commissioner Megan Mitchell. We can no longer tolerate the loss of innocent lives, or allow children to be exposed to such horrific crimes. This week we have seen at least four lives tragically cut short at the hands of a partner or family member. Two of these victims were a mother and her unborn baby; the others a 12-year-old girl and a 17-month-old baby… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
17 September 2015Opinion pieceWhite paper has the potential to improve indigenous lives
The Northern Australia white paper has the potential to be transformative in improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples if it increases the respect and value of their property rights and their right to development. The white paper, released just over a week ago, focuses on working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who own more than 31 per cent of… -
Race Discrimination
23 July 2015Opinion pieceForty years of the Racial Discrimination Act
In October 1975, at a ceremony for the proclamation of the Racial Discrimination Act, then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam described the legislation as ‘a historic measure’, which aimed to ‘entrench new attitudes of tolerance and understanding in the hearts and minds of the people’.(1) The Act was Australia’s first federal human rights and discrimination law. Enacted shortly after the formal -
Race Discrimination
11 June 2015Opinion piece
40 years of the Racial Discrimination Act
Explore an opinion piece that celebrates 40 years of the Racial Discrimination Act by former Race Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Tim Soutphommasane. -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
10 April 2015Opinion pieceThe Government, the High Court and the Migration Act
Read an opinion piece about the High Court finding the government in breach of the Migration Act for refusing to grant a protection visa to a refugee. -
Rights and Freedoms
11 March 2015Opinion piece
Is freedom under pressure globally?
Behind human rights is the still revolutionary idea that every human being is free and equal, that individuals own their own bodies and should be free to pursue their lives, opportunities and enterprise. Human rights provide the foundation for our liberal democracy, our market economy and our civil society. It was the signing 800 years ago of the Magna Carta, or Great Charter of 1215, by… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
11 February 2015Opinion piece
We must keep striving to close the gap in Indigenous health
"Just in the last week, three of my closest friends and a relative have been diagnosed with cancer. This is not an uncommon story, to be – as a community – constantly in grief, loss and trauma." These words, from Janine Mohamed, chief executive of the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives, will be familiar to our communities across Australia. As will her… -
Rights and Freedoms
19 January 2015Opinion piece
Charlie Hebdo V 18C: no contest
Charlie Hebdo would have risked being censored by the courts, but self-censorship is the reality of Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.