The Human Rights Awards are a series of awards for achievements in the field of human rights in Australia, bestowed by the Australian Human Rights Commission at the Human Rights Day Ceremony in December in each year.

History

The Human Rights Awards were established in 1987 by the then Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) "to recognise the contributions of individuals across the nation who made it their life's mission to champion human rights, social justice, and equality for all". The award began as an event to recognise human rights in film, television and literature, but covers a wider spectrum. Of the original categories, only the Human Rights Medal has endured. In 2020, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, instead of the awards ceremony, ten "Human Rights Heroes" were recognised as finalists, including the Torres Strait 8 and Corey Tutt.

Past categories

In 1990 categories included: The Literature Award, Print and Online Media Award, Radio Award, and Television Awards were discontinued in 2015. In 2018 the categories included:

Description

, there are three award categories: The Australian Human Rights Commission receives nominations for the Human Rights Awards and Medals categories, with the choice of recipient made by an independent panel. The individual Human Rights Award and Medal is awarded only to an individual who, to be eligible, must have made an outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights in Australia in at least one of the following areas: In addition, the entrants must be a lawful resident of Australia. The awards are usually bestowed by the AHRC on Human Rights Day (10 December) each year, with a ceremony prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and announced online since then.

Human Rights Medal

Recipients include:

Young People’s Human Rights Medal

Recipients include:

Tony Fitzgerald Memorial Community Individual Award

Named to honour Tony Fitzgerald. Recipients include:

Racism. It Stops With Me Award

Finalists and recipients have been:

Business Award

Law Award

Government Award

Community Organisation Award

Media Award