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Rights and Freedoms
16 October 2023Media ReleaseFinalists announced for 2023 Australian Human Rights Awards
Monday 16 October 2023: A diverse array of people and organisations from across Australia have been selected as finalists for this year’s Australian Human Rights Awards, the country’s premier national event for honouring and celebrating Australia’s human rights heroes. The 21 finalists were selected from over 260 nominations across five categories, including the prestigious Australian Human… -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
15 June 2021Media ReleaseCommission urges immediate action on COVID-19 risk to people in immigration detention
The Australian Government must act urgently to reduce the number of people in closed immigration detention in response to the ongoing risks posed by COVID-19, according to a new report by the Australian Human Rights Commission. Management of COVID-19 risks in immigration detention recommends new safety measures be introduced to protect people in immigration detention, and the wider community… -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
2 July 2020Opinion piece
Blanket bans would be unacceptable
During lockdown, many of us – myself included – have become even more reliant on our mobile phones. They have kept us in contact with parents, children and grandchildren, our colleagues and friends during this difficult time. When my two-year old first saw his grandmother on a smartphone, he squealed with delight. It wasn’t quite the same as being together — he pawed at the screen to try to… -
Commission – General
5 August 2020E-bulletin (Monthly)August ebulletin
We have heard the words human rights quite a lot in recent weeks, in varied and sometimes inaccurate settings. Measures to protect our health and safety must be balanced with our rights and freedoms, but if there was ever a time to articulate where that line is, it would be now. Which is why last week, I took the step of writing a piece for a mainstream publication. While the pandemic… -
Rights and Freedoms
9 October 2020Project
Australia's Third Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
Learn about how every five years, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) considers the progress of every country in the realisation of all human rights. -
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
14 December 2012Speech
“Child Migrants and Human Rights in our Time”: Dr Sev Ozdowski OAM (2005)
I should add, at this point, that my work over the past few years and my inquiry on children in immigration detention (CIDI), in Australia, the report of which "A last resort?" was tabled in the Australian Federal parliament in May of 2004, has made me even more keenly aware of the fragility of child asylum seekers. But more on that later! -
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… -
Commission – General
8 December 2023Media Release
Australia’s human rights champions put social justice and equality centre stage
Women’s equity and racial equality advocate Juliana Nkrumah AM has been awarded the prestigious Human Rights Medal at the 2023 Australian Human Rights Awards in Sydney tonight. Other awards went to Gabriel Osborne (Young People’s Award), Northern Pictures (Media and Creative Industries Award), Advocacy Tasmania (Community Award) and the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia (Law… -
Commission – General
10 January 2024Video
Australia's human rights progress
Australia is widely considered the land of the "fair go". And while that may ring true for many people, not all in our country are yet afforded the dignity and basic rights set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As the final episode in our series commemorating the Declaration’s 75th anniversary explores, its promise in Australia remains a “work in progress”. Learn more about… -
14 December 2012Book page
Our agenda: Commission workplan 2012-2013
Human rights are our entitlements to have our dignity and worth as human beings recognised. We all have them, we all want them recognised in our friends and families, and we all have responsibilities to recognise them in others. -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
23 February 2014Opinion piece
We 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
9 April 2013Publication
Our agenda: Commission workplan 2012-2013
This document provides an overview of the Commission’s major activities for 2012-13. The Commission regularly reviews the ways in which human rights are being observed and respected across Australia. We do this to determine where we can take practical action and make a positive difference. -
Legal
30 May 2022Project
Human Rights Reports
The Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 empowers the Commission to investigate breaches of human rights and workplace discrimination. Reports to the Minister are prepared, including recommendations for action. -
Rights and Freedoms
14 December 2012Opinion piece
All people have a fundamental human right to seek asylum from persecution (2010)
The following opinion pieces have been published by the President and Commissioners. Reproduction of the opinion pieces must include reference to where the opinion piece was originally published. -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
19 April 2024Publication
Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Inspection Report
In 2023, the Commission monitored the human rights of people detained at the Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre. The Commission’s inspection report provides 33 recommendations, noting key observations and concerns. -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
8 October 2014Opinion piece
Keeping asylum seeker children in detention doesn't stop people smugglers - so why do it?
The former and current ministers for immigration and border security, Chris Bowen and Scott Morrison, agree on one thing: that asylum seeker children are not detained to deter people smuggling. Rather, it appears that patrol boats and naval frigates, commanded by a three star general, and a refusal to allow refugees to settle here, have reduced the number of boats reaching Australia. Why… -
International
10 January 2024VideoThe Universal Declaration of Human Rights: 75 Years On Video Series
In a video series commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we hear from a diverse group of Australians about what human rights means to them and where our nation still needs to improve. View the rest of the series here. -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
20 June 2023Media Release
Inspection report: Serious human rights concerns in hotel detention
Explore an inspection report by the Commission that found serious human rights concerns persist in the use of hotels as alternative places of detention. -
Commission – General
10 January 2024Video
What does 'human rights' mean to you?
10 December 2023 marked 75 years since the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In this first of a 5-part video series commemorating the anniversary from a local perspective, we hear from a diverse group of Australians about what human rights means to them. The Commission acknowledges this series comes at a time of major global crises. It is in the pursuit of peace, justice…