The Australian Human Rights Commission often sees the most difficult aspects of the pandemic, through our role in handling discrimination and human rights complaints. We received a 35% increase in complaints when compared to the previous reporting period and this trend is continuing with current projections estimating over 4,500 complaints in the next reporting cycle. In the initial phase of the pandemic, these complaints were primarily related to race discrimination. Since then, they have largely related to disability discrimination, and human rights complaints relating to masks and border closures (both domestically and internationally). I am very proud of the fact that our Investigation and Conciliation Service continues to receive exceptionally high satisfaction ratings from those participating in the process. It is notable that the highest satisfaction ratings come from respondents to complaints – that the Commission is seen as professional, supportive, and impartial in how it acquits its role in addressing complex complaints, often in stressful circumstances, is a testament to the quality of our staff. We are, however, facing significant capacity constraints in dealing with the dramatic increase in complaint numbers over the past year. Our Commissioners have also focused much of their effort on contributing to pandemic-related challenges – such as those affecting people with a disability, children, women, people from non-English speaking backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people in vulnerable situations such as immigration detention, as well as in considering the reasonableness and appropriateness of limitations on people’s rights that have been introduced to respond to the pandemic. One thing is clear from this. People care about their human rights and fundamental freedoms. And they are troubled when rights are restricted. As President, I have spent the year engaging with the community on the Free and Equal project: looking to the adequacy of human rights protections in law, policy and programs at the federal level. The outcomes of this will be released in the coming year when the Commission publishes a series of position papers and reports. In brief, what these discussions have revealed is that our legal framework for protecting rights is extremely limited. Our anti-discrimination laws are out of date and less effective than they should be. This is accompanied by limited protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms more generally. The pandemic response shows us that the community is willing and able to have discussions about the balancing of human rights, whether restrictions imposed are justifiable or not, and what would be the most proportionate approach to addressing an issue. 16 Australian Human Rights Commission Annual Report 2020–2021