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In October 2010, the Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) launched a consultation regarding the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people in Australia. This consultation process sought views from affected individuals and organisations about the steps that they felt would provide better human rights protection for LGBTI people in Australia.

In June 2011, the Commission welcomed action taken by the Australian Government to move a significant number of families and unaccompanied children from immigration detention facilities to community-based detention.

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) National Partnership Agreement for Remote Service Delivery came into effect in January 2009 and will run to 30 June 2014. It is a joint commitment by all Australian governments to a ‘concentrated and accelerated approach to tackle deep-seated disadvantage’ in remote communities.[1] The Partnership is premised on a place-based initiative,…

Bringing Them Home - the Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families (the National Inquiry) - made 54 'head' recommendations, 83 recommendations in total [1], to address what was referred to as 'the continuing devastation of the lives of Indigenous Australians'. The implementation of most recommendations requires action…

Our aim is to make this a reality. To that end we strive to build understanding in the Australian community about what human rights are and their relevance for everyday life. We have made good progress on our journey, but we know we have more work to do.

In 2011–12 the Commission received 17 047 enquiries and 2 610 complaints. This is the highest number of complaints received over the past 10 years and 21% higher than the number of complaints received in the previous reporting year.

[1] Extract from United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Report of the International Workshop on Methodologies regarding Free, Prior and Informed Consent and Indigenous Peoples (New York, 17–19 January 2005), UN Doc E/C.19/2005/3 (2005), paras 46–49. At http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/workshopFPIC.html (viewed 19 November 2010).

On 25 June 2012, the Australian Parliament passed legislation to establish Australia’s first National Children’s Commissioner. The Commissioner will be a member of the Australian Human Rights Commission.

[1] Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Membership of the Expert Panel, http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/indigenous/progserv/engagement/Pages/membership_expert_panel.aspx (viewed 17 October 2011).

Miriuwung Gajerrong [1] reiterates the principles which guide the High Court’s interpretation of whether laws of the Commonwealth, State or Territory are discriminatory under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cwlth) (‘RDA’), particularly as they apply to legislation which authorises dealings with land. These principles are based on the High Court’s decisions in Gerhardy …

New arrangements for the administration of Indigenous affairs (introduced as of 1 July 2004) transferred responsibility for the administration of Indigenous specific programs to mainstream government departments. The new arrangements aim to remove, or at least reduce, the barriers that prevent Indigenous peoples from accessing existing mainstream services on an equitable basis. This objective has…

Appendices Appendix 2 – Complaint statistics Enquiries and complaints received In 2010-11 the Commission received 18 670 enquiries and 2 152 complaints which is similar to the average number of enquiries and complaints received over the past five years. • 38% of complaints were lodged under the Disability Discrimination Act • 21% of complaints were lodged under the Sex Discrimination Act •…

This report contains a summary of observations by the Australian Human Rights Commissioner, Graeme Innes AM, and staff of the Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) following visits to Australia’s immigration detention facilities, and to people in community detention, between June and September 2008. The contents of the report are based on direct observations made during the…

The Commission has been working closely with the Attorney-General’s Department on all aspects of the Framework. In particular, we have provided input into the development of a National Human Rights Action Plan, human rights education initiatives, improved human rights protections including greater parliamentary scrutiny, and consolidation of federal discrimination laws.

Dear Attorney Pursuant to section 31(b)(ii) of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986 (Cth) I attach a report of my inquiry into a complaint by Mr Frank Ottaviano of discrimination in employment on the basis of criminal record by the State of South Australia (South Australia Police). I have found that the act and practice complained of constitutes discrimination in employment…

It is a story of colonisation; the threat of losing our cultural authority to manage our societies; and the despair that has come from that disempowerment. It is a story of grief and trauma and the continued pain of living with grog, drug and violence.