Australia must learn from the COVID-19 response and prioritise human rights in emergencies, a report from the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has found.
Collateral Damage: What the untold stories from the COVID-19 pandemic reveal about human rights in Australia, released on Tuesday, summarises the results of an AHRC project which engaged more than 5000 people from around the country.
It involved a survey, online story submission portal and stakeholder interviews/workshops over 2024 and 2025.
The report, co-authored by Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay, found that federal, state and territory governments did not adequately consider or protect people’s human rights when implementing pandemic response measures, and that Australians from all walks of life were adversely affected.
It recommends all levels of government adopt an Emergency Response Framework, with the key lesson that human rights need to be a priority and embedded in decision-making from the outset.
Read the report here.
Share this article