The Australian Human Rights Commission has announced human rights advocate Hugh de Kretser as its new President.
Hugh has been at the forefront of Australian public interest legal action to advance human rights. He has played a critical role in landmark human rights cases and issues, including in relation to protecting the rights of refugees and people seeking asylum, marriage equality, securing justice for First Nations peoples, and in advancing democratic freedoms including the right to protest and freedom of expression.
Hugh is currently CEO of the Yoorrook Justice Commission, the first formal truth-telling process into historical and ongoing injustices experienced by First Nations peoples in Victoria.
Before that he was the Executive Director of the Human Rights Law Centre and Executive Officer of the Victorian Federation of Community Legal Centres. He has also served as a Commissioner of the Victorian Law Reform Commission and a Director of the Sentencing Advisory Council.
Hugh succeeds Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher and will begin his five-year term on 30 July.
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