Australian Human Rights Commission

The Australian Human Rights Commission is an independent statutory organisation, established by an act of Federal Parliament. We protect and promote human rights in Australia and internationally.

What we do:

• The Commission is Australia’s National Human Rights Institution.

• We investigate and conciliate discrimination and human rights complaints. Our complaints process is free and confidential and allows individuals to resolve disputes quickly and effectively.

• We advocate to government and others for human rights to be considered in laws and policy making, and we also provide advice, review laws, and make submissions to parliamentary inquiries.

• We promote and raise awareness of human rights in Australia through education and training, events and discussion, media outreach, digital resources and social media communication.

• We undertake research into human rights and discrimination issues in Australia – and sometimes we hold national inquiries to examine human rights issues in more detail (you can have your say on our current inquiries and projects).

• We also provide legal advice on human rights obligations to courts and appear as an amicus curiae – or ‘friend of the court’ – to provide specialist advice in discrimination cases.

• We produce guidelines for employers, and provide training and resources to assist organisations in embedding and supporting diversity and inclusion, and addressing the risks of modern slavery in their global operations and supply chains.

• We run international education and training programs for other human rights institutions in the Asia Pacific region.

• The Commission also has a role in monitoring and scrutinising Australia’s performance in meeting its international human rights commitments. We regularly provide independent reports to the UN about this.