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The Commission has new regulatory powers to ensure Australian workplaces, organisations and businesses meet the positive duty requirements.

The Close the Gap Campaign has welcomed the COAG agreement to work in genuine partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the Refreshed Closing the Gap Strategy. COAG has recognised that in order to effect real change, governments must work collaboratively and in genuine, formal partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as they are the essential…

“The Commission will consider the Religious Freedom Review, and any proposals for reform, once the report is officially released. “Any law reform proposal must protect the rights of everyone in Australia. “The Commission made six recommendations to the Review. In addition to better public education on freedom of religion, the Commission called for federal law to prohibit discrimination on…

Disability Discrimination Commissioner Dr Ben Gauntlett will join the management committee of Play by the Rules, the national program to make grass roots sports safe, fair and inclusive. Dr Gauntlett joins his Australian Human Rights Commission colleague, Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins (co-chair), and South Australia’s Equal Opportunity Commissioner Dr Niki Vincent representing…

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is calling on Australia to prioritise raising the age of criminal responsibility as part of its Concluding Observations on Australia's performance in protecting the country's children and young people. This comes at a time when there is a strong push around the country to improve our responses to juvenile offending and do more to divert children…

Bold new approaches from First Nations Australian women for improving their future have been unveiled at a historic summit in Canberra, including a new National Framework for Action and a new dedicated First Nations Gender Justice Institute at the Australian National University. The new measures have been highlighted at the Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) National Summit, Australia’s…

The Australian Human Rights Commission welcomes the publication of the final report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. Following the findings and recommendations in the report, released today, the Commission would like to see the human rights of older people embedded in the planning, provision and monitoring of aged care services in Australia. “Older people have the…

The travel ban on Australian citizens returning from India, accompanied by criminal sanctions under the Biosecurity Act, raises serious human rights concerns. The Commission supports the continuation of aid to the Indian Government as it copes with the current COVID-19 crisis, but the Commission holds deep concerns about these extraordinary new restrictions on Australians returning to…

As most Australian children return to school today, they are being invited to share their stories about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their wellbeing, and how they have coped.

The current and former Social Justice Commissioners have called for political leadership to ensure the recommendations of the Joint Select Committee on constitutional recognition are realised. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner June Oscar AO and former commissioners Mick Gooda, Professor Tom Calma AO, Dr William Jonas AM and Emeritus Professor Mick Dodson…

Former Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins, is calling on Australian employers to issue a limited waiver of confidentiality obligations in non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) for the purpose of allowing people to make a confidential submission to the National Inquiry into Workplace Sexual Harassment (the National Inquiry). The National Inquiry, supported by Government, is …

Ageism is blocking older people from the workforce, findings from a survey of HR professionals about attitudes to older workers show. A partnership between the Australian HR Institute and the Australian Human Rights Commission, the 2023 Employing and Retaining Older Workers Survey found one in six organisations will not consider hiring people aged 65 and above while only a quarter are open…

The Voice is a once in a lifetime opportunity to unite all Australians. It is the first time in Australia’s history that we are on a collective path to recognising First Nations peoples’ deep connection to this continent, and our remarkable civilisation. It is an opportunity to have a society of inclusion, unity and recognition. The referendum is also an opportunity to overcome division, to…

Anne Hollonds has commenced in her role as Australia’s new National Children’s Commissioner. Commissioner Hollonds emphasised the need for greater recognition of the importance of childhood in Australia. “Childhood is quite rightly described as critically important for people's social, health and economic outcomes, but the value of childhood is not only about the future adult that a child…

Leading disability rights advocate Rosemary Kayess will give the 2020 Human Rights Day Oration today. Last year’s Human Rights Medal winner, and a contributor to the drafting of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Rosemary Kayess will discuss the social transformation of CRPD and the impact it has had on the community as well as her work with the Disability…