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Commission - General
9 September 2025E-bulletin (Monthly)President's message | September 2025
Migration and addressing racism in Australia Migration has fuelled modern Australia’s success. It is connected to our economic prosperity and national character. Half of us have at least one parent born overseas and a quarter are born overseas. There has been bipartisan political support for a non-discriminatory migration policy since the 1970’s and there is strong and consistent public… -
Commission - General
12 December 2023Media Release
Positive duty for employers: Commission’s powers commence
The Commission has new regulatory powers to ensure Australian workplaces, organisations and businesses meet the positive duty requirements. -
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Commission - General
6 August 2025E-bulletin (Monthly)
President's message | August 2025
Dear friends, Protecting people's rights in rural and regional Australia People living in rural, regional and remote areas of Australia face greater challenges in realising their human rights than people in the cities. So it was good to speak about this at the recent rural, regional and remote community legal centre summit in Port Macquarie. Jesuit Social Services’ Dropping off the Edge… -
Commission - General
10 November 2020E-bulletin (Monthly)
November ebulletin
Welcoming our new Children's Commissioner, Anne Hollonds Anne Hollonds commences her role as Australia’s National Children’s Commissioner today. Anne brings with her a wealth of experience as an advocate for children and young people. She has worked as the CEO of Relationships Australia, the Benevolent Society and – most recently – the Australian Institute of Family Studies. The Commission… -
Commission - General
6 November 2024E-bulletin (Monthly)
President's message | November 2024
Dear friends, I’m pleased to share the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Annual Report 2023-24 which has been tabled in the Australian Parliament. In my first three months in this role, one of the things that has struck me is the breadth and depth of the Commission’s work. Our Annual Report highlights this. One of the Commission’s core functions is providing access to justice for people… -
Commission - General
6 May 2020E-bulletin (Monthly)
Community update: COVID-19 (May 2020)
Commission News May 2020 Commissioner update COVID-19 Dear friends, As we come to grips with a new way of living (at least for now), we are reminded of how fortunate we are to be living in Australia. Measures to control COVID-19 appear to have been relatively successful—particularly in comparison with other first world nations. But it has not been without significant sacrifices. The impact… -
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… -
Commission - General
5 April 2024E-bulletin (Monthly)
April 2024: Commission news | President's letter
Our Free + Equal project at the Castan Centre, conference and Rights On Time panel show in Sydney in June and new commissioners start. -
Commission - General
3 June 2020E-bulletin (Monthly)
Community update: COVID-19 (June 2020)
Commission News June 2020 Commissioner update COVID-19 Dear friends, The last few weeks have seen a gradual return to some of our pre-pandemic freedoms in many parts of Australia. While physical distancing remains a vital element to maintaining low infection rates, it is clear that we welcome the opportunity to visit loved ones, travel and socialise. The Lucky Country, a term used favourably… -
Commission - General
19 September 2023News story
Opportunities to lead Australia’s human rights work
The Attorney-General’s Department is seeking expressions of interest from human rights leaders and experts for two key roles at the Commission – President, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. The current position holders President Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM and Commissioner June Oscar AO will end their tenures in July and April 2024… -
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… -
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… -
Commission - General
18 February 2022Publication
Annual Report 2020-2021
This Annual Report sets out the performance of the Australian Human Rights Commission in the 2020–2021 financial year. -
Commission - General
12 October 2020E-bulletin (Monthly)
October ebulletin
Eye opening video on elder abuse What does elder abuse look like? It may be physical, financial or psychological, but many Australians do not see the abuse that older people sometimes suffer. Last week, on International Day of Older Persons, Age Discrimination Commissioner Dr Kay Patterson launched a campaign centred on a hard-hitting video that identifies the “red flags” of elder abuse to… -
Commission - General
2 March 2021E-bulletin (Monthly)
March ebulletin
Support for Anti-Racism Framework In a report published in February, the Senate inquiry on ‘issues facing diaspora communities’ recommended funding the development of a comprehensive national anti-racism framework and to consider resourcing the Race Discrimination Commissioner to reinvigorate the existing National Anti-Racism Strategy. Race Discrimination Commissioner Chin Tan spoke to Nine … -
Commission - General
14 October 2020Publication
Annual Report 2019-2020
You can access the Australian Human Rights Commission 2019 – 2020 Annual Report at the Australian Government Transparency Portal. Complaint Statistics 2019-2020 Download PDF | Download Word The year in review The 2019–2020 financial year has been a challenging period. It is impossible to reflect on this period without focusing on the tragic circumstances that have unfolded across Australia… -
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… -
Commission - General
14 December 2012Webpage
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women - Human rights at your fingertips - Human rights at your fingertips
On 18 December 1979, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. It entered into force as an international treaty on 3 September 1981 after the twentieth country had ratified it. By the tenth anniversary of the Convention in 1989, almost one hundred nations have agreed to be bound by its provisions.
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