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Rights and Freedoms
15 November 2019Opinion pieceFreedom of speech and Annika Smethurst
Opinion piece by Commission President Rosalind Croucher published in the Australian newspaper The raids on the home of News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst and the offices of the ABC have highlighted the vulnerability of press freedom in Australia compared to other similar liberal democracies. The offences being investigated, as set out in the relevant warrants, included alleged offences by ... -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
17 June 2019Media ReleaseRisk management in immigration detention report released
Any significant restrictions imposed on a person held in immigration detention, including the widespread use of restraints like handcuffs, must be tailored to individual circumstances and risks, according to a new report released by the Australian Human Rights Commission today . The Commission has made 34 recommendations to improve risk management practice based on its inspections of detention ... -
Rights and Freedoms
14 April 2023Media Release
Commission welcomes banning of spit hoods by AFP
A decision by the Australian Federal Police to end the use of spit hoods has been welcomed by the Australian Human Rights Commission. Today the AFP announced the AFP and ACT police will no longer use spit hoods, and instead the AFP will provide ‘alternative equipment and implement procedures to better protect officers from spitting and biting.’ The decision follows a review initiated last year by ... -
Commission – General
22 March 2024SpeechAALA Harmony Day and IWD
Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM FAAL Acknowledgements [Thank you to Clayton Utz and to Dora Cheung, AALA] Let me begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation and pay my respect to Elders, past, present and emerging. I was invited to this event to celebrate Harmony Day, and also to connect the recent celebration of ... -
Technology and Human Rights
23 November 2020News story
New tools for ethical AI
Learn more about how to develop and deploy ethical AI to combat algorithmic bias and protect human rights. -
Commission – General
27 October 2022Media Release
Commission welcomes passage of new Bill to strengthen its independence
The Australian Human Rights Commission has welcomed the passage in the Senate today of the Australian Human Rights Commission Legislation Amendment (Selection and Appointment) Bill 2022. The Bill ensures Commissioner appointments are publicly advertised and subject to an open, transparent and merit-based process, in line with our international commitments. It removes the possibility of direct ... -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
27 August 2021News story
Commission statement on Australia’s response to Afghanistan crisis
The Australian Human Rights Commission has serious concerns about the human rights situation in Afghanistan, heightened by the attacks on Kabul airport overnight, and the corresponding impacts on the Afghan diaspora in Australia. -
Rights and Freedoms
5 November 2020Speech
Do we have the necessary legal grammar to talk human rights?
We’re all talking human rights—but do we have the necessary legal grammar for them? Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM Acknowledgement Chief Justice, Justices, Masters and Registrars, good morning. Thank you to Justice Paul Tottle for the invitation to speak with you today. I’m sorry I can’t be with you in 3D, but WA once again has distanced itself from the rest of Australia in closing ... -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
20 March 2024Media ReleaseCommission celebrates official launch of the Wiyi Yani U Thangani Institute
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner June Oscar AO has launched a dedicated Institute to elevate the voices and solutions of First Nations women and girls – the Wiyi Yani U Thangani Institute for First Nations gender justice. The Australian-first Institute, housed at the Australian National University (ANU) on Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country, ensures the continuation of ... -
Business and Human Rights
12 November 2021Publication
Modern Slavery in the Health Services Sector
Modern Slavery in the health services sector: Practical responses to managing risks to people, is a guide to help the health services industry respond effectively to the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth). The Act requires certain large companies to report annually on their efforts to address risks of modern slavery in their global operations and supply chains. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
30 July 2021News story
CLOSE THE GAP: New report a wake-up call for all Australians
Governments across Australia must urgently redouble their efforts to address Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inequality, the Close the Gap campaign says, following the release of disappointing new data on the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. This week’s release of the first annual data report by the Productivity Commission revealed that the central commitment to close the life ... -
Disability Rights
5 May 2020News story
Bringing a disability lens to the COVID-19 health policy response
From a public health perspective it was important for Australian governments to move quickly to introduce social distancing and self-isolation measures to reduce community transmission of COVID-19. This has played an important role in Australia's successful efforts to 'flatten the curve.' However, while we have all felt the effects of our new way of living the impact has been profound for many of ... -
Sex Discrimination
4 March 2021Project
Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces
The Australian Human Rights Commission launched Set the Standard: Report on the Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces on 30 November 2021. -
Legal
22 March 2024SpeechLaw Dinner to celebrate the 120th anniversary of SULS
Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM Let me begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation and pay my respect to Elders, past, present and emerging, and also to acknowledge any Indigenous guests attending today. I am sorry that as a nation we did not accept the invitation offered in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. There ... -
Rights and Freedoms
7 December 2023Media Release
Report tabled: Revitalising Australia’s commitment to human rights
Commonwealth Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP has tabled a report by the Australian Human Rights Commission that calls for a renewed National Human Rights Framework and National Human Rights Act to better protect the rights of all people in Australia. The report, Revitalising Australia’s commitment to human rights , provides 12 recommendations to improve government accountability ... -
Sex Discrimination
12 August 2022Media Release
Sex Discrimination Commissioner calls for swift action to address harassment and bullying in NSW Parliament
Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins welcomes the report on sexual harassment, assault, and bullying in New South Wales Parliament and urges swift action on recommendations. -
Rights and Freedoms
22 July 2019Project
Free and Equal Conference
The Free and Equal conference was the centrepiece of a national conversation and once-in-a-decade event. The conference was held at the Hyatt Regency Sydney on Tuesday 8 October 2019. -
Race Discrimination
13 March 2024SpeechCoca-Cola Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Summit
I am the full-stop, the exclamation mark and the question mark. The vision of this summit is that “It’s not about changing the player, it’s about changing the field they are play on.” We have heard about the business case, the moral case and the human rights case. This December is the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, marking the day, on 10 December 1948, when the ... -
Children's Rights
11 December 2019Speech2019 Human Rights Day Oration
The Hon Peter McClellan AM QC 10 December 2019 I recently visited the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima. It is a confronting but moving experience. It is a memorial to the people the allies believed it necessary to kill to win the war. They were also intent on emphasising to the world that they had the most powerful weapon ever invented. They chose to detonate the bomb in an urban area rather than ... -
Rights and Freedoms
5 December 2020News story
Celebrating the 2020 Human Rights Heroes
Frontline workers, community volunteers and a refugee running marathons to fundraise for legal services for other refugees are among the 10 finalists of the Commission’s new 2020 #HumanRightsHeroes campaign. Earlier in the year, the Australian Human Rights Commission invited the public to nominate the people and organisations who they felt had made the most positive and inspiring contribution to ...