Amnesty International Australia is a section of the

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...

network, and is part of the global movement promoting and defending

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 ...

and dignity.

Concerns and campaigns

Human rights in the Asia-Pacific region is a key concern for Amnesty International Australia. Amnesty International Australia searches out facts about human rights abuses and raises awareness of these abuses in Australia, the Asia-Pacific and around the world. The organisation undertakes advocacy and mobilises people to put pressure on governments and others to end rights violations. Amnesty International Australia campaigns on international and domestic

issues. Past campaigns include calling for an end to the human rights abuses that drive and deepen

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse

, through the "Demand Dignity" campaign;

Craig Foster use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , nationality = , other_names = , siglum = , citizenship = , education = , ...

became the face of the "Game Over" (#GameOver) campaign in late 2019, which has been supported by high-profile sportspeople such as Liz Ellis,

Benny Elias Ben Elias (Arabic: بن الياس; born 15 November 1963 in Tripoli, Lebanon),is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played primarily as a for Balmain in the New South Wales Rugby League premie ...

, Paul Roos, Ian Chappell,

Lisa Sthalekar Lisa Carprini Sthalekar (born 13 August 1979) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer and captain of the Australia women's national cricket team. In domestic cricket, she represented New South Wales. She was a right-handed all ...

, Paul Wade,

Frank Farina Frank Farina OAM (born 5 September 1964) is an Australian football (soccer) coach and former player who played as a forward. His playing career spanned Australia, Belgium, France, Italy and England, and was a major player for the Australia ...

, Alex Tobin,

Craig Moore Craig Andrew Moore (born 12 December 1975) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. His 2006 FIFA World Cup profile describes him as being "tough-tackling and uncompromising but also calm and composed under p ...

; musician

Jimmy Barnes James Dixon "Jimmy" Barnes (née Swan; born 28 April 1956) is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best- ...

, actors

Bryan Brown Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include '' Breaker Morant'' (1980), ...

and Anthony La Paglia musicians and many others, and continues as of 2022.

Sally McManus Sally McManus (born 31 July 1971) is an Australian trade unionist, feminist and political activist who has served as the Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) since 2017. She is the first woman to hold the position of Secret ...

, and many others. The campaign centres on the plight of asylum seekers kept in

indefinite detention Indefinite detention is the incarceration of an arrested person by a national government or law enforcement agency for an indefinite amount of time without a trial; the practice violates many national and international laws, including human ri ...

by the Australian Government, for many years after 2013 at detention centres on Manus detention centre, Manus Island, ( PNG), and

Nauru Nauru ( or ; na, Naoero), officially the Republic of Nauru ( na, Repubrikin Naoero) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in ...

. , campaign focus areas were Indigenous youth incarceration under the campaign name of "Community Is Everything"; fair treatment of

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s and

asylum seeker An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and m ...

s; and gender and sexuality; women's rights;

climate justice Climate justice is a concept that addresses the just division, fair sharing, and equitable distribution of the burdens of climate change and its mitigation and responsibilities to deal with climate change. "Justice", "fairness", and "equity" ar ...

; anti-

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagoni ...

; taking action for individuals around the world who are in imminent danger; crisis response; calling for the end the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

around the world; and protection of health and human rights during 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 January ...

Governance and funding

The National Board of Amnesty International, which ensures that its constitution is upheld, comprises seven elected directors and up to two additional co-opted directors. the board is headed by Mario Santos, with directors Gabe Kavanagh, Lisa Annese, Michael Dundon, Ajoy Ghosh, Saras Kumar, and Cassandra Seery. In 2018, the organisation introduced new structures and procedures for governance, which increased the impact of members by making more members eligible to vote at the AGM, as well as creating a forum in which members could participate and add their ideas. Membership is broken into seven regions, more or less based on the

states and territories of Australia The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing ...

, with each region headed by Activism Leadership Committees. There are also local groups, with members drawn from universities or local suburbs. In 2019, National Director Claire Mallinson announced she was stepping down from her role in October after 12 years with the organisation. The Board appointed Samantha Klintworth as National Director, commencing in November 2019. she remains in this position. The majority of funding comes from private individuals. The organisation is impartial and independent of any political ideologies, economic interests or religions, and as such does not accept any money from governments or political parties. The 2020 Council comprises a group of leaders in business,

philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

and the arts to raise the profile of Amnesty in Australia, and help to raise funds. The organisation reported over AUD $25M in revenue in 2018.

Collaborations

* To celebrate

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wo ...

on 8 March 2015, Amnesty International Australia collaborated with youth dating app

Tinder Tinder is easily combustible material used to start a fire. Tinder is a finely divided, open material which will begin to glow under a shower of sparks. Air is gently wafted over the glowing tinder until it bursts into flame. The flaming tinder i ...

to raise awareness of

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countri ...

. Slogans included "Not all women have the power to choose like you do" and "You pick your partner. Many women aren't given the choice.". * Holmesglen Institute of TAFE's Community Services students – presentation by

Julian Burnside Julian William Kennedy Burnside (born 9 June 1949) is an Australian barrister, human rights and refugee advocate, and author. He practises principally in commercial litigation, trade practices and administrative law. He is known for his staunc ...

in 2018 * In 2019 Amnesty International Australia partnered with

The Body Shop The Body Shop International Limited, trading as The Body Shop, is a British cosmetics, skin care and perfume company. Founded in 1976 by Anita Roddick, the company currently has a range of 1,000 products sold in about 3,000 stores, divided ...

and Indigenous artist Emma-Louise Mulganai Hollingsworth to produce a range of gift cards and tags for sale in stores, with proceeds donated to Amnesty. *Charity Greeting Cards (ongoing as of March 2022)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Amnesty International Human rights organisations based in Australia Organizations established in 1962 1962 establishments in Australia