Australian Human Right Commisions

The Australian Human Rights Commission is a standalone organization created by a Federal Parliament act. Our mission is to safeguard and advocate for human rights both within Australia and globally.

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Five years since COVID-19, there are lessons we must act on

1 month ago | humanrights.gov.au | Lorraine Finlay

This opinion piece by Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay was published in The Mandarin. Five years ago this month, I boarded a flight from Jakarta to Australia with my two young children. Travelling solo with kids is stressful at the best of times, but with the COVID-19 pandemic taking hold around us, the stakes were higher than usual. My husband remained in Indonesia for work, and 14 days of quarantine awaited us after touchdown.
National Children's Commissioner Welcomes Healthcare Review

2 months ago | humanrights.gov.au

The National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds has welcomed the Federal Health Minister’s announcement of a national review of healthcare for trans and gender diverse children.
Australian parents and kids deserve better

Nov 25, 2024 | humanrights.gov.au | Lorraine Finlay |Anne Hollonds

By Lorraine Finlay and Anne HollondsParents and carers are used to constantly weighing up risk while striving to keep their children safe. It’s a delicate balance. But we also know that protecting our kids is more complicated than just banning anything dangerous. While the safeguarding of children is needed and welcomed, the Federal Government’s current rushed plan to ban children under 16 from social media oversimplifies a complex issue and carries the risk of unintended harms.
Pandemic probe: Statistics can’t capture the loss of trust and confidence

Oct 31, 2024 | humanrights.gov.au | Lorraine Finlay

The Covid-19 response inquiry report is an important first step, but there is much more that needs to be done if the government wants to start rebuilding public trust. The number one lesson should be that response measures do not operate in a vacuum. The full human impact needs to be understood and human rights need to be embedded into future emergency responses.
Call for submissions: Review of WWW Advisory Note | Australian Human Rights Commission

Apr 2, 2024 | humanrights.gov.au

Explore the call for submissions to review the web accessibility advisory note.
Human Rights in AI-powered Immersive Worlds

Dec 10, 2023 | humanrights.gov.au | Lorraine Finlay

Commissioner Finlay gave this speech at Metaverse Safety Week 2023 on 11 December 2023. Good morning, afternoon, and evening to you from wherever in the world you are joining us today. Thank you, in particular, to the X Reality Safety Intelligence and Kavya Pearlman for bringing us together for Metaverse Safety Week and, in particular, for our human rights-focused discussion today.
COVID-19 Inquiry a missed opportunity

Sep 27, 2023 | humanrights.gov.au | Lorraine Finlay

The true cost of the COVID-19 pandemic is almost impossible to measure. We can identify the number of lives lost as a direct result of COVID-19, with 22, 887 COVID-19 deaths being reported in Australia. We can also establish the direct economic cost, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics reporting last year that compared to its pre-pandemic trajectory. But the direct health and economic impacts alone do not reflect the full picture.
Why Misinformation Bill risks Freedoms it Aims to Protect

Aug 23, 2023 | humanrights.gov.au | Lorraine Finlay

This opinion piece by Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay appeared in The Australian on Thursday 24 August 2023. Despite being labelled the “word of the decade” in 2021, fake news is not a modern phenomenon. Misinformation has been spread for political gain since Octavian used fake news to discredit Mark Antony in ancient Rome. What is different today is the way modern technology makes it easier to spread fake news around the world but harder to distinguish fact from fiction.
Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems

Aug 1, 2023 | humanrights.gov.au | Lorraine Finlay |Patrick Hooton

The rapid acceleration of technology is truly a modern marvel. We now have artificial intelligence (AI) capable of writing poetry and teaching our children. New Australian AI technology is being used to reduce preventable deaths in hospitals, and a trial in remote Australia is using AI to improve the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease. The potential for technology to enhance humanity is enormous, and we must evolve to reap the benefits of new and emerging technologies.
What businesses need to know about the Modern Slavery Review

Jul 24, 2023 | humanrights.gov.au | Lorraine Finlay |Hannah Turl

The key message for businesses to take away from the statutory review into Australia’s Modern Slavery Act is simple – ‘modern slavery reporting is not being taken seriously enough.’ Professor John McMillan AO was tasked with leading the independent review to examine the operation of the Modern Slavery Act three years after its commencement.