Australian Human Rights Commission
Annual Report 2021–22
develop cross-portfolio processes for consultations with children, young people
and their families, to inform five national strategies over the next two years,
including domestic and family violence, disability, child sexual abuse, and
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander early years development.
The Race Discrimination Commissioner, also with short-term external funding
support, launched the next iteration of the Commission’s Racism. It Stops with Me
campaign, with a compelling community service announcement and associated
materials challenging us to see the world through the eyes of others to
understand how our ethnicity or racial background affects life experiences. After
several years of advocating for the federal government to adopt a national antiracism framework, the new Government announced funding for this and the
Racism. It Stops with Me campaign for the next four years. This will provide the
Race Discrimination Commissioner with the much-needed capacity to
significantly advance partnerships, research, and data to address racism in
Australia.
The Disability Discrimination Commissioner advanced a significant new project,
IncludeAbility, to increase the employment opportunities of persons with disability
by developing a website, resources for people with disability and employers, an
ambassador advisory group and meeting with the diversity and inclusion
practitioners and CEOs of some of Australia’s largest employers. The housing
needs of people with disability were also considered through a project with
Monash University where universal design principles were considered when
renovating houses in Melbourne. An exhibition of the house designs was
exhibited for Melbourne Design Week and featured in Architecture Australia.
The new Human Rights Commissioner entered into partnerships with key
industries to develop guidance materials to meet the human rights challenges
associated with the rollout of new technologies and the use of artificial
intelligence in decision-making.
These initiatives were also dependent on external funding support from
philanthropist organisations and corporate partners.
The Age Discrimination Commissioner continued to deepen relationships across
the community sector to promote awareness of elder abuse, as well as the
challenges facing older women at risk of homelessness, and to combat ageism
and age discrimination in the workplace. For example, the Commission launched
the What’s age got to do with it? research report, which contributed national
evidence to the body of research on the existence of ageist attitudes and
prejudice in Australian society and provided insights into how ageism operates
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