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Up to 71 asylum seekers who missed out on making an application for a protection visa were still entitled to a fair assessment of their claims the Full Federal Court has held. The Court accepted submissions from the ºÚÁÏÇ鱨վ that an internal process established by the Department of Home Affairs should have provided them with procedural fairness. As a result of the …

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Her Excellency Dr Michelle Bachelet AC, is in Sydney today to attend the ºÚÁÏÇ鱨վ’s Free and Equal; A National Conversation on Human Rights. Dr Bachelet will deliver the keynote address at the conference. Her speech will focus on Australia’s human rights achievements and challenges, as well as our sphere of influence in the…

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is calling on Australia to prioritise raising the age of criminal responsibility as part of its Concluding Observations on Australia's performance in protecting the country's children and young people. This comes at a time when there is a strong push around the country to improve our responses to juvenile offending and do more to divert children…

The International Day of Older Persons is an opportunity to consider the contribution made by older Australian workers and the importance of creating age friendly workplaces. The percentage of Australians aged 65 and over in the labour force doubled between 2000 and 2015 - and 20% of people over 70 are still working. We need to continue this trend so individuals can contribute and continue…

The ºÚÁÏÇ鱨վ supports reform to improve protections against religious discrimination for all people in Australia. While supporting much of the draft Religious Discrimination Bill, the Commission urges that the Bill be amended to avoid limiting other human rights and overriding existing anti-discrimination laws. “The Commission has advocated for more than 20 years…

“For more than 20 years, the ºÚÁÏÇ鱨վ has called for reform to prohibit all forms of discrimination on the basis of religious and other beliefs. “Any reform in this area must protect the human rights of all people in Australia, regardless of their religion, race, gender, sexual orientation or any other status. “We will be studying the content of the draft Bill…

Australian ºÚÁÏÇ鱨վ’s Commissioner Megan Mitchell and Human Rights Commissioner Edward Santow have today written to Minister David Coleman, calling for an urgent and compassionate resolution for the Tamil family detained in immigration detention on Christmas Island. “Given their connection to Australia, showing compassion and allowing the family to stay together in the only community the…

The practice of sending to Nauru families with young children who arrived in Australia seeking asylum is the subject of an inquiry report by the ºÚÁÏÇ鱨վ tabled in Parliament today. [1] Mr Richard Lancaster SC, as delegate of the President, found that the regional processing centre on Nauru was not an appropriate place to send families with young children…

The ºÚÁÏÇ鱨վ calls on the Australian Government to make urgent changes to improve protections for approximately 30,000 refugees and asylum seekers living in the Australian community. A new report released today, Lives on hold: Refugees and asylum seekers in the ‘Legacy Caseload’, reveals the human rights situation for approximately 30,000 refugees and asylum seekers…

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner June Oscar AO has launched the Hear Us, See Us exhibition at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. The exhibition includes photos and videos of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls who took part in national consultations for the Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) project