Rights and Freedoms
As with any agreement, there are certain requirements that OPCAT signatories need to fulfill, and Australia has been given longer than any other country to meet our OPCAT commitments. Today – 20 January 2023 – is our extended compliance deadline, and Australia has failed to deliver on our promises.
Children's Rights
The Australian Human Rights Commission calls on all Australian governments to urgently address the national crisis in youth justice to prevent further harm to children in detention, and to reduce youth offending through effective systems of support.
Rights and Freedoms
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).
Rights and Freedoms
The Australian Human Rights Commission is urging all Australian state and territory governments to fully commit to implementing an important human rights framework for people held in detention settings following the suspension of a tour of Australia by United Nations inspectors. A delegation from...
Rights and Freedoms
A new report released today by the Australian Human Rights Commission outlines activities required to expedite Australia’s sluggish approach to implementing the United Nation’s Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT)...
Rights and Freedoms
Sandy Duncanson Memorial Lecture Housing and human rights – rights where it matters Hobart, 11 October 2022 Abstract Homelessness can happen to anyone. People with disability are at an increased risk and they are joined by a growing invisible cohort of older women. COVID-19 was a trigger for state...
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
This Statement provides guidance on the short-term use of hotel APODs, including access to open‑air exercise, access to meaningful programs and activities, and the need to ensure medical and welfare services are of the same standard as those provided in other immigration detention facilities.
Children's Rights
Commissioner Hollonds said vulnerable children and their families have been let down by federal, state and territory governments for decades with key recommendations from various inquiries and Royal Commissions going unimplemented.
Children's Rights
His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC, Governor-General of Australia, and Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley. Thank you for launching National Child Protection Week 2022 and for hosting us today. I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of this land, the Ngunnawal people...
Children's Rights
Learn how the Human Rights Commission is deeply concerned about the safety and wellbeing of teenagers who were kept in adult detention centres.
Rights and Freedoms
The Australian Human Rights Commission: promoting and protecting human rights in Australia St Andrew’s College, University of Sydney, 14 July 2022 Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM FAAL Abstract This presentation explores the role of the Australian Human Rights Commission in the context of the...
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
[Introduction in Bunuba] It is a pleasure be speaking to you all today. My name is June Oscar, and I am Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. I acknowledge the traditional custodians of all the lands across Australia and pay my respects to all elders, past...
Rights and Freedoms
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...
Children's Rights
All 16 of Australia’s children’s commissioners, guardians and advocates say a commitment by state attorneys-general to develop a proposal to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12 does not go far enough. In a joint statement, Australian children’s commissioners, guardians and advocates said...
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