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Rights and Freedoms
24 February 2014Opinion pieceWhy I’ll take the approach of a classical liberal to human rights
As Human Rights Commissioner I want to promote a culture of rights and responsibilities so that every Australian understands their rights and confidently stands up for them against government encroachment. Because human rights are a political construct, there are numerous ways that they can be approached. Each perspective weights the relative integrity of rights when they come into conflict… -
Children's Rights
13 March 2015Opinion pieceChildren the victims of AMF’s anti-gay marriage advertisement
THE running of the Australian Marriage Forum (AMF) advertisement on television last weekend to coincide with the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade can only be described as pointless and cruel. This anti-same sex marriage message deliberately seeks to undermine the thousands of healthy gay parent child relationships in this country. The advertisement asks us to “think of the child”,… -
Legal
14 December 2012WebpageInquiry into the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 and Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (2009)
The Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission)[1] welcomes the opportunity to make this Submission to the Australian Government Review of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 (Cth) (the EOWW Act) and the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (the EOWA). -
14 December 2012Book page
Chapter 1: A cause for cautious optimism: The year in review - Social Justice Report 2011
As I reflect on the events that have taken place during the reporting period from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011, I see cause for optimism whilst also acknowledging there are still some areas that remain a concern. Over the last year we have reached some major milestones. For instance, we have seen the election of the two co-chairs and a board to the National Congress of Australia’s First… -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
23 February 2014Opinion pieceWe can't 'outsource' our moral obligations to these people
Events on Manus Island have graphically and tragically brought to the attention of the Australian public the inappropriateness of the current arrangements for the regional processing of asylum seekers. I have been troubled by the loss of life and the injury that has occurred on Manus Island over this past week, even as we wait for further information about what exactly has occurred. I am… -
Commission – General
14 December 2012WebpageMedia Contacts
We regularly prepare and distribute media releases, opinion pieces, speeches, media kits and fact sheets on the work that the Commission undertakes. Our website also provides extensive research and project information. -
14 December 2012Book page
National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention
The United Nations Youth Association of Australia welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention. The issue of immigration detention for children has been coming under increased scrutiny in the past eight months. As far as it affects our international standing, the standards by which we treat children and… -
Rights and Freedoms
3 April 2013Publication
Asylum seekers and refugees
Australia has obligations to protect the human rights of all asylum seekers and refugees who arrive in Australia, regardless of how or where they arrive and whether they arrive with or without a visa. -
14 December 2012Book page
Native Title Report 2009: Chapter 3
In my previous two Native Title Reports, I have strongly argued the need to reform the native title system. Stakeholders from all sectors engaged in the native title system have also stressed the need for the Government to take significant steps to ensure that the system meets the original objectives set out in the preamble to the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (Native Title Act). -
14 December 2012Book page
Native Title Report 2000: Chapter 5: Implementing the amendments to the Native Title Act
In 1999 and 2000 the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (the CERD Committee) and the Human Rights Committee (HRC) of the United Nations both criticised the 1998 amendments to the Native Title Act 1993 (the NTA) as limiting the rights of Indigenous people.(1) The committees found that the amendments were discriminatory and recommended that Australia either suspend implementation… -
Legal
7 June 2017Submission
Submission: Inquiry into Strengthening Multiculturalism (2017)
Australian Human Rights Commission Submission to the Select Committee on Strengthening Multiculturalism -
Legal
6 February 2014Publication
Casenote: Plaintiff M76/2013 v Minister for Immigration, Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship [2013] HCA 53
The High Court found that the Department of Immigration acted on the basis of an error of law when it refused to refer the plaintiff’s case to the Minister for Immigration for consideration of whether to allow her to make a protection visa application. -
Commission – General
3 July 2018Opinion piece
Criminal record discrimination
This article by Commission President Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher was published in the Australian July 4, 2018 I recently provided a report to the Attorney-General about a man who claimed that he had been refused a job because of his criminal record. The criminal record was very serious. Ten years ago, he had been convicted of accessing and possessing child pornography. The law and… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
27 January 2016Opinion pieceGovernment’s Healthy Welfare Card no solution to alcohol abuse
In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across the country, old wounds are being reopened. Many of our people are being forced to revisit the past trauma of income management and stolen wages. The federal government’s Healthy Welfare Card has created great concern and contention, as the measure will disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and… -
Legal
14 December 2012Webpage
Australian Human Rights Commission Submission to the Joint Select Committee on Australia’s Immigration Detention Network (2011)
The Australian Government should implement reforms it announced in 2008 under which immigration detention is to be used as a last resort and for the shortest practicable period, people are to be detained in the least restrictive environment appropriate to their individual circumstances, and there is a presumption that people will be permitted to reside in the community unless they pose an… -
14 December 2012Book page
Commission Website: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention
Department of Justice and Youth Studies at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology The Department of Justice and Youth Studies (JYS) is part of the Faculty of Education, Language and Community Services (FELCS) at RMIT University. JYS offers undergraduate courses in Criminal Justice Administration and Youth Affairs, as well as Masters by Research and PhD programs. -
Commission – General
12 April 2013Opinion piece
Time for rethink on asylum seeker treatment
I am gravely concerned that Australia's practices in relation to asylum seekers risk serious breaches of fundamental rights and freedoms under the human rights treaties by which Australia is bound. -
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. -
14 December 2012Book page
Background paper: Immigration detention and visa cancellation under section 501 of the Migration Act (2010)
Under section 501 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (Migration Act), a non-citizen’s visa may be cancelled if they do not satisfy the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship (the Minister) or the Minister’s delegate that they pass the ‘character test’. -
14 December 2012Book page
Chapter 1: Towards a reconciled Australia: An agenda of hope - Social Justice Report 2010
I could tell you of heartbreak, hatred blind I could tell of crimes that shame mankind Of brutal wrongs and deeds malign Of rape and murder son of mine