Child Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) tool—Safeguarding Children The National Children’s Commissioner developed Australia’s first national Child Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) tool—Safeguarding Children in October 2023. Developed with support from UNICEF Australia, it provides an opportunity for decision-makers, across all jurisdictions, to assess and monitor the impacts of policy and legislation on children’s rights and wellbeing, not only in emergency situations, but in all government decisions that affect children and their families every day. It also provides a mechanism for strengthening the voices of children and prioritising their needs.   The CRIA uses the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as the framework to assess these impacts. All the rights included in the CRC are necessary to the basic development of a child. No one right is given more importance than any other. They function as integrated components which can impact all aspects of a child’s or family’s life. The Commission continues to conduct briefings across government departments on the Child Rights Impact Assessment Tool (CRIA) for use by government decision-makers to assess the direct and indirect impact of legislation and policy on children’s rights and ensure that the UN CRC, including children’s voices and priorities, is built into government decisions that will impact on their lives. The 2024 report released by the Australian Government Senate Inquiry on the Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Equity) Bill - known as the Duty of Care Bill recommended that the Australian Government consider the wide use of the Child Rights Impact Assessment Tool to assist in policy development and decision making. The wider use of the CRIA supports the National Children’s Commissioner’s Term Goal 3 to strengthen scrutiny of the legal and policy frameworks to protect children’s rights and wellbeing. Sexual Orientation, Gender Expression and Identity and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) Engagement Despite many recent and hard-fought-for advances towards equality, escalating complexities are confronting and obstructing the advancement of the rights of people with diverse sexual orientation, gender expression and identity, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC). This is occurring both domestically and internationally. The Commission’s engagement with LGBTIQA+ communities has significantly increased this reporting period. The Commission engaged as a ‘friend‘ (amicus curiae) of the Federal Court of Australia in the Tickle v Giggle case. The Commission assisted the Court by providing submissions about the meaning, scope and validity of relevant provisions of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth). With the leadership of the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, the Commission has met with LGBTIQA+ community stakeholders across the country, and has publicly advocated at both domestic and international conferences for trans and gender diverse people’s human rights to be upheld while dispelling harmful assumptions that the rights of this group will infringe on the rights of cisgender women and girls. This includes the Sex Discrimination Commissioner submitting a recorded statement for the 56th Human Rights Council Session, to be played during an interactive dialogue with the UN Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI). Stakeholders have shared that this increased engagement has been welcome, especially at a time where there is concern about the lack of progress from Federal state and territory governments on LGBTIQA+ issues. One stakeholder reached out with this message: “[Commissioner Cody].. was so great at the Our Watch launch today and hearing her talk about the case you’ve been involved in this week [Tickle v Giggle] gave me hope.”   Annual Report 2023–2024 • 29