The Human Rights Awards are a series of awards for achievements in the field of

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

in Australia, bestowed by the

Australian Human Rights Commission The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body funded by, but opera ...

at the

Human Rights Day Human Rights Day is celebrated annually around the world on 10 December every year. The date was chosen to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Right ...

Ceremony in December in each year.

History

The Human Rights Awards were established in 1987 by the then Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) "to recognise the contributions of individuals across the nation who made it their life's mission to champion human rights, social justice, and equality for all". The award began as an event to recognise human rights in film, television and literature, but covers a wider spectrum. Of the original categories, only the Human Rights Medal has endured. In 2020, owing to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in Australia was identified on 25 Januar ...

, instead of the awards ceremony, ten "Human Rights Heroes" were recognised as finalists, including the Torres Strait 8 and Corey Tutt.

Past categories

In 1990 categories included: *Poetry Award *Drama Award *Prose Award *Film Award *Songwriting Award *Television Drama Award *Television Documentary Award *Radio Documentary/ Current Affairs Award *Metropolitan Newspapers Award *Regional Newspapers Award *Magazines Award The Literature Award, Print and Online Media Award, Radio Award, and Television Awards were discontinued in 2015. In 2018 the categories included: * Human Rights Medal (Highest in this awards) * Young People’s Human Rights Medal (from 2008) * Law Award * Business Award * Government Award (from 2018) * Racism. It Stops With Me Award (from 2015) * Tony Fitzgerald Memorial Community Individual Award * Community Organisation Award * Media Award * Government Award (created 2018

Description

, there are three award categories: * Human Rights Medal * Young People's Medal (for under-25s) * Community Human Rights Champion The Australian Human Rights Commission receives nominations for the Human Rights Awards and Medals categories, with the choice of recipient made by an independent panel. The individual Human Rights Award and Medal is awarded only to an individual who, to be eligible, must have made an outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights in Australia in at least one of the following areas: * Taking action to overcome discrimination or infringements of human rights within Australia * Encouraging greater social harmony within Australia in a range of areas such as race relations, gender equality and the treatment of children and young people * Enhancing the rights of

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

* Promoting equal opportunity for people with a disability in Australia or countering discrimination on the basis of age or sexuality. * Increasing awareness of issues of injustice or inequality in Australia. In addition, the entrants must be a lawful resident of Australia. The awards are usually bestowed by the AHRC on

(10 December) each year, with a ceremony prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and announced online since then.

Human Rights Medal

Recipients include: *1987 - Rose Colless OAM *1988 - Reverend Dorothy McMahon *1989 - Reverend Robert Ridley *1990 - Professor Fred Hollows AC *1991 - Justice Michael Kirby AC, CMG *1992 -

Eddie Mabo Edward Koiki Mabo (''né'' Sambo; 29 June 1936 – 21 January 1992) was an Indigenous Australian man from the Torres Strait Islands known for his role in campaigning for Indigenous land rights in Australia, in particular the landmark decision o ...

- Reverend Dave Passi - Sam Passi - James Rice - Celuia Mapo Salee - Barbara Hocking *1993 - ''No Medal'' *1994 - Dr. Roberta Sykes *1995 - Justice Elizabeth Evatt AC *1996 -

Rebecca Peters Rebecca Peters is a political advocate for gun control who served as Director of the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) from 2002 to 2010. , Peters was listed on the IANSA board of directors. Background Rebecca Peters studied ...

- Robert Riley *1997 - Dr. Faith Bandler AM *1998 -

Vivi Germanos-Koutsounadis Vivi may refer to: People * Vivi Bach (1939–2013), Danish actress and singer * Vivi Fernandez (born 1977), Brazilian model * Vivi Flindt (born 1943), Danish ballerina * Vivi Friedman (1967–2012), Finnish film director * Vivi Gioi (1917–1975) ...

*1999 -

Helen Bayes Helen Celia Bayes (born 29 June 1944 in Sale, Greater Manchester) is an English-born activist who won the Australia's Human Rights Medal in 1999. Early life Bayes was born into a Quaker family in Northern England and migrated to Australia in 1966, ...

*2000 - Rt Hon. Malcolm Fraser AC CH *2001 - Dr. Arnold "Puggy" Hunter *2002 -

Michael Raper Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

*2003 -

Marion Le Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mario ...

*2004 - Dick Estens - Deborah Kilroy *2005 - Kevin Cocks *2006 -

Phillip Adams Phillip Adams, Philip Adams, or Phil Adams may refer to: Sports * Phillip Adams (American football) (1988–2021), American football cornerback * Phillip Adams (sport shooter) (born 1945), Australian pistol shooter * Phil Adams (cricketer) (born 1 ...

AO -

Father Chris Riley Christopher Keith Riley, SDB is an Australian Roman Catholic priest. He is a member of the Salesian order and the founder and CEO of the charity Youth Off The Streets. On 3 April 2021, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Father Riley was ...

AM *2007 - Jeremy Jones *2008 - Les Malezer *2009 - Stephen Keim SC *2010 -

Thérèse Rein Thérèse Virginia Rein (born 17 July 1958) is an Australian entrepreneur who is the founder of Ingeus, an international employment and business psychology services company. Rein is the wife of Kevin Rudd, who was the Prime Minister of Aust ...

*2011 -

Ron Merkel Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...

QC *2012 -

Ian Thorpe Ian James Thorpe, (born 13 October 1982) is an Australian retired swimmer who specialised in freestyle, but also competed in backstroke and the individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the most won by any Australian along wit ...

*2013 - Sister Clare Condon *2014 - Dorothy Hoddinott *2015 -

Peter Greste Peter Greste ( lv, Pēteris Greste; born 1 December 1965) is an Australian journalist and correspondent, who holds dual citizenship of Australia and Latvia. He has worked as a correspondent for Reuters, CNN and the BBC, predominantly in the Mi ...

*2016 - Pat Anderson *2017 -

Johnathan Thurston Johnathan Dean Thurston (born 25 April 1983) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the National Rugby League (NRL). Thurston was an Australian international, Queensland State of Origin and Indigenous All ...

*2018 - Justice Peter McClellan AM -

Chrissie Foster Christine "Chrissie" Foster (born ) is an Australian advocate for people impacted by child sexual abuse. Foster and her late husband, Anthony, raised three daughters in the Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh, Victoria. The children were educated in ...

*2019 - Rosemary Kayess *2020 - ''No Medal'' *2021 - Larissa Behrendt *2022 - Mahboba Rawi and Nawid Cina

Young People’s Human Rights Medal

Recipients include: *2008 - Alan Huynh *2009 - Venay Menon *2010 - Jack Manning Bancroft *2011 - Tshibanda Gracia Ngoy *2012 - Krista McMeeken *2013 - Mariah Kennedy *2014 - Daniel Haile-Michael and Maki Issa *2015 - Yen Eriksen *2016 - Arash Bordbar *2017 -

Georgie Stone Georgie Robertson Stone is an Australian actress, writer and transgender rights advocate. At the age of 10, Stone was the youngest person to receive hormone blockers in Australia, which set a precedent that eventually changed the law that comp ...

*2018 - Saxon Mullins *2019 - Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts *2020 - ''No Medal'' *2021 - Chanel Contos *2022 - Caroline Cecile Fletcher

Tony Fitzgerald Memorial Community Individual Award

Named to honour

Tony Fitzgerald Gerald Edward "Tony" Fitzgerald (born 26 November 1941) is a former Australian judge, who presided over the Fitzgerald Inquiry. The report from the inquiry led to the resignation of the Premier of Queensland Joh Bjelke-Petersen, and the jai ...

. Recipients include: * 2011 Lola Edwards * 2012 Pat Anderson * 2013

Carolyn Frohmader Carolyn Patricia Frohmader (18 February 1965 – present) is an Australian human rights campaigner for women and girls with disabilities, and the long-serving Executive Director of Women with Disabilities Australia (WWDA). Biography Born in Mou ...

* 2014 Damian Griffis * 2015 Ludo McFerran * 2016 Jane Rosengrave * 2017 Barbara Elizabeth Spriggs * 2018 Catia Malaquias * 2019 Jasmine Cavanagh

Racism. It Stops With Me Award

Finalists and recipients have been: * 2015 Tasmanian Students Against Racism (Winner),

Football Federation Victoria Football Victoria is the state governing body for soccer in Victoria, Australia. It is affiliated with Football Australia, the sport's national governing body. History Football Victoria began operation in 1884 under the name Anglo Australia ...

, Multicultural Development Association, All Together Now * 2016

National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters Council The National Ethnic & Multicultural Broadcasters’ Council (NEMBC) is the peak body for Australia's ethnic and multilingual community broadcasters. The NEMBC develops national policy, advocates and lobbies on behalf of its members and organises a ...

(Winner), Welcome to Australia,

Beyondblue Beyond Blue is an Australian mental health and wellbeing support organisation. They provide support programs to address issues related to depression, suicide, anxiety disorders and other related mental illnesses. The organisation works in p ...

, All Together Now, Fadzi Whande,

Hobsons Bay City Council The City of Hobsons Bay is a local government area in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It comprises the south-western suburbs between 6 and 20 km from the Melbourne city centre. It was founded on 22 June 1994 during the amalgamation of l ...

* 2017 Cohealth Arts Generator Sisters and Brothers Program (Winner), Clinton Pryor, Sean Gordon,

ActNow Theatre ActNow Theatre is a theatre company based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 2007, it is a community-based company whose work focuses on social justice issues and techniques. From 2007 until 2020, the artistic director was Edwin Kemp At ...

and Reconciliation SA (joint), Multicultural Communities Council of Illawarra and Why Documentaries (joint) * 2018

Nyadol Nyuon Nyadol Nyuon, (born 1987) is an Australian lawyer and human rights advocate, who was born in a refugee camp in Ethiopia, of a family fleeing the Second Sudanese Civil War. She works as a commercial litigator in Melbourne and is a regular media c ...

(winner),

Mariam Veiszadeh Mariam Veiszadeh is an Afghan-born Australian lawyer and writer known for her anti-racism campaigns. Early life and education Veiszadeh was born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1984. In 1988, when Veiszadeh was four years old, her family fled Afghanis ...

, Welcoming Cities, E-Raced,

and Reconciliation SA (joint) * 2019 '' The Final Quarter'', documentary film by Shark Island Productions (winner)

Business Award

*2018: Konica Minolta Australia, recognised for its leadership on the issue of modern slavery. *2019: STREAT

Law Award

*2019: Kate Eastman *2022:

Jane McAdam Jane Alexandra McAdam (born 1974) is an Australian legal scholar, and expert in climate change and refugees. She is a Scientia Professor at the University of NSW, and is the inaugural Director of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law ...

Government Award

*2018: *2019:

Armidale Regional Council The Armidale Region is a local government area in the New England and Northern Tablelands regions of New South Wales, Australia. This area was formed in 2016 from the merger of the Armidale Dumaresq Shire with the surrounding Guyra Shire. ...

Community Organisation Award

*2019: Just Reinvest NSW *2022: Andrea Comastri

Media Award

*2019:

Jess Hill Jesse Terrill Hill (January 20, 1907 – August 31, 1993) was an American athlete, coach, and college athletics administrator who was best known for his tenure as a coach and athletic director at the University of Southern California (USC). His c ...

, for her non-fiction work, ''See What You Made Me Do'', about domestic violence

References

External links

* {{Human Rights Awards Human rights awards Awards established in 1987 Australian humanitarian awards