The Fraser Oration: Making rights a reality - the need for a Human Rights Act for Australia

The Fraser Oration 2023 presented by Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher

Making rights a reality - the need for a Human Rights act for Australia.

This presentation advances the case for a Human Rights Act for Australia, reflecting on experiences during COVID and the difference a Human Rights Act may have made – and where it has helped in places where a human rights lens is legislated for decision and policy making.

The Fraser Oration - established in 2017 by the University of Melbourne in memory of Malcolm Fraser, the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia - provides an opportunity to explore matters of public and social interest in line with Fraser’s vision for Australia, and his support for multiculturalism, universal democratic principles, human rights, and free speech.

Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher

President, Australian Human Rights Commission

Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM FAAL FRSA FACLM(Hon) FRSN has an extensive career in law, leading government agencies and law schools. A Foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law and an Honorary Fellow of the Australian College of Legal Medicine, she commenced her seven-year term as President of the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on 30 July 2017.

Prior to joining the AHRC, Emeritus Professor Croucher was President of the Australian Law Reform Commission (2009– 2017) and Commissioner (2006–2009), where she led a number of landmark law reform inquiries, including on Disability Laws, Encroachment on Freedoms in Commonwealth Laws, and Elder Abuse.

She has published extensively, principally in the fields of property, equity, legal history and public policy. At the AHRC, she has led the Free & Equal project, a multi-year program of work, which recommends improved human rights protections, through a Human Rights Act and significant discrimination law reforms, in a Human Rights Framework fit for the 21st century.