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Sex Discrimination
10 August 2023Media ReleaseResource: workplace harassment, discrimination and victimisation
The Australian Human Rights Commission has launched a series of resources to help organisations and businesses understand and comply with their obligations under the positive duty. -
Rights and Freedoms
28 June 2020Media ReleaseImplementing OPCAT in Australia released
The Commission has today released recommendations for how Australia should implement the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT). Implementing OPCAT in Australia is the final step in the Commission’s consultation process with civil society, inspectorate and monitoring bodies, and a number of state and territory ... -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
11 May 2023Media ReleaseAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women to ‘design’ their future with new national approach to First Nations gender justice
Bold new approaches from First Nations Australian women for improving their future have been unveiled at a historic summit in Canberra, including a new National Framework for Action and a new dedicated First Nations Gender Justice Institute at the Australian National University. The new measures have been highlighted at the Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) National Summit , Australia’s most ... -
Age Discrimination
16 May 2023SpeechHuman Rights Don't Diminish With Age (2023)
Hon. Dr Kay Patterson AO Age Discrimination Commissioner Speech to Chris Barnard Nursing Agency (CBNA) MACG Grand Cedar, Ashwood VIC, 3 May 2023 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Welcome everyone - I wish to acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Bunurong people as the traditional owners of the lands from which I speak and pay respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging. I also want to ... -
Children's Rights
13 February 2024Media ReleaseAHRC welcomes announcement of National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Commissioner
The Australian Human Rights Commission welcomes the Federal Government’s announcement today that a new position will be created for a National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Commissioner. Advocates and peak bodies representing Australia’s First Nations children have long sought a National Commissioner to promote the rights, interests and wellbeing of First Nations children and ... -
Rights and Freedoms
22 November 2021News story
Lorraine Finlay commences term as Human Rights Commissioner
Lorraine Finlay has commenced her term as Human Rights Commissioner. Commissioner Finlay, whose appointment was announced in September, said she was looking forward to working to protect and promote human rights and freedoms with her colleagues at the Australian Human Rights Commission. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
27 March 2024Media Release
Commissioner June Oscar welcomes Institute funding
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner June Oscar welcomed the Commonwealth’s funding of the new Wiyi Yani U Thangani Institute for First Nations Gender Justice at the Australian National University. The Institute is the first of its kind in the world and will bring together First Nations researchers to develop and design initiatives to improve outcomes for Aboriginal ... -
Rights and Freedoms
30 May 2024Media Release
Government must seize the moment for a National Human Rights Act
A new parliamentary report recommending a National Human Rights Act as part of a revitalised Human Rights Framework brings Australia closer than ever before to establishing the basic legal protections that Australians need. The report, tabled in Federal Parliament today, includes an example of legislation for a National Human Rights Act, building on decades of work and reinforcing recommendations ... -
Rights and Freedoms
17 January 2019Project
Free and Equal: An Australian conversation on human rights
What makes an effective system of human rights protection for 21st century Australia? What are we doing well and what steps do we still need to take? -
Children's Rights
4 April 2023Media Release
National Children’s Commissioner calls for action after ‘shocking’ research on child maltreatment in Australia
Australia’s National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds says ”confronting new findings from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study provide evidence, for the first time, of the scale of child maltreatment in Australia. "Child maltreatment is a much bigger problem than we thought, leading to serious negative lifelong harms for children, and massive costs to the community. “The ground-breaking ... -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
31 October 2023Opinion piece
Now is the time to act. The referendum must not lead to despair, but to a search for new ways to secure justice
This opinion piece by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner June Oscar AO, appeared in The Guardian Australia on Sunday 29 October 2023 The day the proposal for a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous voice was rejected by the majority of my fellow Australians will be remembered by many as a sombre day in our country’s history. After the result, there is much pain to ... -
Rights and Freedoms
29 January 2024Media Release
Statement on the ruling of the International Court of Justice 26 January 2024
The Australian Human Rights Commission reiterates our calls for: human rights to be respected for Palestinians and Israelis; the need to uphold international humanitarian and human rights law; and the rights to protest, freedom of assembly and association. Following the interim ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 26 January, we join calls for: urgently needed basic services and ... -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
2 April 2024Media Release
Katie Kiss commences as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner
Australia’s new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Katie Kiss, said in the wake of the devastating outcome of last year’s Voice referendum, Australia must consider the next steps, and prioritise finding ways to heal and soothe divisions. This includes making meaningful progress in addressing the systemic and structural discrimination experienced by First Nations ... -
Rights and Freedoms
11 November 2022Media Release
Human Rights Commissioner to raise juvenile and immigration detention concerns with UN torture committee in Geneva
Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner is set to appear before the United Nations Committee Against Torture in Geneva next week to provide analysis of how Australia measures up against our obligations under the UN’s Convention Against Torture (CAT) and its associated Optional Protocol (OPCAT). -
Disability Rights
21 August 2020News story
New guidelines for the rights of people with disability during COVID-19
New guidelines to support the rights of people with disability during the COVID-19 pandemic have been released today by Disability Discrimination Commissioner Dr Ben Gauntlett. The Australian Human Rights Commission developed the Guidelines on the rights of people with disability in health and disability care during COVID-19 to assist health care, disability services and support workers take a ... -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
7 December 2023Opinion pieceHasty detainee laws raise human rights concerns
Read an opinion piece from Australia's Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay raising concerns about the passage of new laws responding to the fallout from the recent NZYQ High Court decision. -
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. -
Sex Discrimination
4 April 2023News story
Farewell to Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins
Australian Human Rights Commission farewells Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins and celebrates the lasting impact her work has had on Australian workplaces and communities. -
Disability Rights
28 April 2021News story
New report explores adaptable housing for Australians with disability
The Commission has today released a new report, produced by Monash University’s Urban Lab, exploring adaptable housing for people with disability in Australia. The report was commissioned by the Australian Human Rights Commission in line with Disability Discrimination Commissioner Dr Ben Gauntlett’s term goal to increase access to accessible housing for Australians with disability. In Australia, 4 ... -
Age Discrimination
9 May 2024Media Release
Age Discrimination Commissioner calls for a Convention on the Rights of Older Persons
Australia’s Age Discrimination Commissioner, Robert Fitzgerald AM, has called on the Federal Government to formally endorse the creation of a UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons, in what he said remains a missing piece in the international human rights framework. Currently, there is no binding international instrument dedicated to the rights of older persons, like there is for race, sex ...