The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has released its first annual “human rights health check” to track Australia’s progress in protecting human rights and highlight persistent gaps. The 2026 assessment cautioned that “global and local trends are eroding democracy” and said Australia lacks adequate safeguards to respond to the challenges.
Wed 6 May 2026 01.00 AEST
Photo: AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Australia’s human rights watchdog has warned governments must do more to rebuild trust in democracy and tackle growing inequality and racism, amid concerns the nation’s “social fabric is fraying”.
The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has released its first annual “human rights health check” to track Australia’s progress in protecting human rights and highlight persistent gaps.
“It helps Australians to see where we are doing well, where we need to improve and where action is needed,” said Commission President Hugh de Kretser.
“Societies that protect human rights are stronger, healthier, safer and more prosperous.”
The 2026 assessment cautioned that “global and local trends are eroding democracy” and said Australia lacks adequate safeguards to respond to the challenges.
“In particular, we need stronger protection of protest rights and press freedom,” it noted.
Protest laws have come under renewed scrutiny in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack, amid concerns new restrictions could curb civil liberties.
Most recently, NSW protest restrictions rushed in following the attack were deemed “unconstitutional” and struck down by the state’s top court.
Queensland’s new hate speech laws – which ban the use of phrases “from the river to the sea” and “globalise the intifada” – have also drawn sharp criticism.
“Freedom of expression is under threat in Australia,” said Bill Browne, director of the Australia Institute’s Democracy and Accountability Program.
“So far, parliament, the judiciary, the press and the public have failed to fully secure free speech.”
The Australia Institute identified persistent concerns with freedom of expression in a 2021 report, but successive Governments have not yet implemented reforms.
“Formally protecting freedom of expression in the Constitution or law would bring Australia in line with other Western democracies and help defend this fundamental right,” said Mr Browne.
The assessment also found that, despite more than half (51.5 per cent) of Australians being born overseas or having a parent born overseas, racism is “nonetheless pervasive” and is causing “real harm to people every day”.
“It [racism] has a long history here, beginning at first contact and is entrenched in systems, structures, and institutions,” the report stated.
“Communities and individuals affected by racism consistently identify an urgent need for the Australian government to take coordinated, national action to address racism in all its forms.”
Two priority actions identified by the Commission included the introduction of a federal Human Rights Act and strengthening federal discrimination laws.
“This reform would protect people’s rights in Australian law, build a culture that respects human rights and give people power to act if their rights are breached. It would strengthen trust in government and promote cohesion,” stated President de Kretser.
He also said there was a “pressing need” for human rights education, “especially for public servants”.
“We live in one of the safest, most stable and prosperous countries on the planet. But that safety, stability and prosperity are not shared equally,” he said.
“There are many gaps in the protection of human rights in Australian law.”
The report pointed to the country’s social security system as one example, describing it as “inadequate and overly punitive”.
“Poverty in Australia is increasing,” it said. “In 2025, 14.2 per cent of people in Australia were living below the poverty line.”
A recent survey by the ACOSS and UNSW Sydney-led Poverty and Inequality Partnership found less than a quarter (23 per cent) of respondents said they could live on the current JobSeeker payment, currently $409 a week.
“More people than ever are acutely aware of the level of financial distress in our communities,” said Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie.
Beyond economic pressures, the assessment also flagged emerging risks linked to technology, such as AI and digital sovereignty, warning that “new technologies are being deployed with limited safeguards, requiring legal protections to be built after harms have arisen rather than being proactively addressed”.
It said the findings overall pointed to a broader failure to keep Australia’s laws and protections in in step with a rapidly changing world.
“There is a significant gap between human rights standards that Australian governments have committed to uphold and the actual protections in our laws, policies and processes of government.”
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