What are human rights?
Every person has inherent dignity and value. Human rights help us to recognise and respect that fundamental worth in ourselves and in each other.
Australia has agreed to uphold the human rights standards set out in a number of international treaties and declarations, including:
- the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
- the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
- the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
- the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
- the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
- the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Are you a student or a teacher looking for information about human rights? See Information for Students.
What does HREOC do?
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) works to promote and protect the rights set out in the above treaties. In addition, HREOC has specific functions with respect to a number of other international treaties and declarations .
HREOC’s functions include policy work, education and accepting complaints from individuals who believe that their rights have been breached. The federal Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act gives HREOC these functions.
For more information about the role and functions of HREOC, see Brochure: Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
Who is the Human Rights Commissioner?
Graeme Innes AM was appointed Human Rights Commissioner in December 2005 for a five year term.
The Human Rights Commissioner and the Human Rights Unit at HREOC seek to monitor, protect and promote human rights in Australia by holding national inquiries, reviewing legislation, making submissions to public inquiries and providing policy advice on human rights issues. The Human Rights Commissioner also participates in raising community awareness on human rights issues, giving speeches to community and business groups and supporting other education initiatives.
In recent years the Human Rights Unit’s policy work has focused on protecting and promoting the human rights of people throughout Australia, including:
- immigration detainees, asylum seekers and refugees
- children
- prisoners and people with a criminal record
- gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex people.
The Human Rights Unit also works with other units within HREOC on issues including:
