Human Rights Week
International Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December. On this day in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Every year in December we recognise and celebrate this day through a week of events, connection, and advocacy. Through these events we highlight human rights issues as they apply to the everyday lives of Victorians. We invite all Victorians to engage in activities and start and continue conversations about human rights.
Human Rights Week 2024: A week of daily actions
Once again, we partner with Victoria’s other independent commissions to invite Victorians to take part in a week of daily actions.
Challenge your knowledge of human rights, then apply this knowledge in a practical way.
The week’s actions will be shared on this page from 3–10 December.
Our partners:
- Commission for Children and Young People
- Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission
- Office of the Public Advocate
- Victorian Commissioner for LGBTIQA+ Communities
- Victorian Disability Worker Commission
- Victorian Multicultural Commission
2024 daily action schedule
Today is the start of Human Rights Week 2024 and today’s action is brought to you by the Victorian Disability Worker Commission. It is also International Day of People with Disability, a time for us to reflect on the importance of safety, respect and quality in disability services.
People with disability including those with mental illness or psychological distress deserve to be provided with access to a diverse mix of care and support services and to feel confident that the support they receive is safe, inclusive and empowers them to live life their way. The Victorian Disability Worker Commission is here to ensure people with disability can assess this support.
The theme of International Day for People with Disability this year focuses on the leadership by people with disability. Here at the VDWC, we see this every day as the largest group of people who bring complaints to us are people with disability themselves. They are courageously making the system better for everyone, so to support their leadership, we call on service providers and support workers to also let us know about disrespectful and unsafe services.
To do now (5 minutes)
Watch our video – ‘VDWC Complaints Service.
If you use disability services you want to feel confident that you are receiving safe, quality support to live life your way.
If you have concerns about the support you are receiving, you have the right to make a complaint. Complaints are not just about identifying issues – they’re an important part of improving safety and accountability across the disability sector.
For more actions you can take please visit humanrights.vic.gov.au/about-us/human-rights-week/ and scroll to the schedule.
#HRWVic2024 #idpwd2024
To do this week
It’s a right for people with disability to have access to quality and safe services and it is their right to participate fully in life. By speaking up, you contribute to making a safer, stronger sector.
Follow the steps below and head to vdwc.vic.gov.au/complaints-and-notifications/complaints to find out more about our complaints service and how to make a complaint.
- Read our complaints factsheet.
- View our ‘Who to contact to make a complaint about a disability service or worker’ flyer.
Tomorrow’s action will be brought to you by the Commissioner for LGBTIQA+ Communities.
Intersex people have unique experiences as members of LGBTIQA+ communities. We welcome intersex people into LGBTIQA+ communities, irrespective of their age or identity, noting that some do not identify with the other parts of the acronym.
Intersex people are people born with ‘variations of’ or ‘innate’ sex characteristics that don’t fit medical norms for female or male bodies. Intersex people risk stigmatisation, discrimination and harm because their bodies are seen as different.
Intersex people’s physical diversity is another part of the wonderful diversity of humanity. Together, we can work to avoid body shaming for intersex people and all those whose bodies are a bit different.
Intersex people are in every age group, including in infancy and early childhood, when individuals lack the age or agency to express other LGBTQA+ identities. This group are not queer or straight, cis or transgender. Furthermore:
Some intersex people identify as male or female, and some do not.
Intersex young people and adult’s sexuality is unrelated to their intersex status. Some intersex people do not like being seen as part of LGBTIQA+ communities, because most people see this label as shorthand for referring to a person’s sexuality or about being trans and gender diverse.
Intersex advocates want their human rights to bodily autonomy protected. In Victoria and elsewhere, intersex advocates want an end to deferrable and irreversible medical surgical and hormonal interventions on intersex babies and children until they can give consent.
By raising awareness and recognising our differences, we can better support and advocate for intersex people with understanding and respect.
Our actions for Human Rights Week 2024, are:
To do now
Let Victorian intersex people know that intersex people who wish to be part of LGBTIQA+ communities are a vital and welcome part of our communities, and all intersex people are a vital and welcome part of our broader Victorian community.
Let intersex people know that you stand with them, and that intersex people’s diversity is another part of the wonderful diversity of humanity. Post an affirming message, as an ally, friend or family member and add the hashtags #IntersexAlly and #HRWVic2024
For more actions, please go to humanrights.vic.gov.au/about-us/human-rights-week/
To do this week
Watch these videos to learn more about being intersex:
youtube.com/watch?v=x4cnBDoC6yA (3 minutes)
abc.net.au/news/2021-10-26/what-does-it-mean-to-be-intersex-/100560854 (5-10 minutes)
Read about the work of Intersex Human Rights Australia at https://ihra.org.au/
Read the (i) Am Equal Report: the Victorian Government’s future directions for Victoria’s intersex community at health.vic.gov.au/publications/i-am-equal
Read the Darlington Statement (March 2017) by Australian and Aotearoa/New Zealand intersex organisations and independent advocates about priorities for intersex human rights (15-20 minutes)
darlington.org.au/statement/
Today’s actions were brought to you by the Commissioner for LGBTIQA+ Communities.
Today’s daily action is brought to you by the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission.
At the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission (the Commission), we take a human rights-based approach, and the principles of the Mental Health Act 2022 (the Act) and the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 guide all our work. When people contact us, we help them understand and exercise their rights and advise them on the next steps using a rights-based, trauma-informed, recovery-oriented approach.
We invite all Victorians to engage in activities and start and continue conversations about human rights.
To do now (2-5 minutes)
Watch our video: Watch Maggie Toko, Consumer Commissioner, Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission and Dan Stubbs, Commissioner, Victorian Disability Workers Commission talk about how important Human Rights are, for mental health consumers, carers, families and kin. They will explore how the Rights intersect within the mental health, wellbeing, and disability sectors.
To do this week (30-40 minutes)
- Improve your knowledge of the Act: The Act has a set of core mental health and wellbeing principles. Mental health and wellbeing service providers are required to make all reasonable efforts to comply with the mental health and wellbeing principles and to give proper consideration to those principles when making a decision under the Act. Improve your knowledge and find out more about these Principles. Understanding the Act helps individuals know their rights and principles within Victoria’s mental health and wellbeing system, ensuring they are treated with dignity and respect. It empowers them to actively participate in decision-making processes related to treatment and care.
- Exercise your right to complain. The Commission can receive and deal with complaints about a mental health and wellbeing service provider’s failure to make all reasonable efforts to comply with the mental health and wellbeing principles.
Find out more by visiting our page for consumers carers, families and kin. To make a complaint about a mental health and wellbeing service, visit our make a complaints page or, to make a complaint about a disability support worker, including one who supports you in the mental health and wellbeing space, visit www.vdwc.vic.gov.au
Today’s daily action is brought to you by the Office of the Public Advocate.
Did you know that making your own decisions is a human right?
Everyone has the right to make decisions and control their own life. But for many people with disability, especially those with cognitive impairments, their ability to exercise these rights can be limited without the right support.
Supported decision-making assists people to make their own decisions and direct their own lives. It is a practical and legal alternative to substitute decision-making where others make decisions on behalf of a person both informally and through guardianship and financial administration.
Everyone needs support to make decisions sometimes. This could include:
- presenting information in a different way
- providing the time to understand the information and ask questions
- outlining and clearly explaining all the options available.
Supported decision-making is critical to building a more inclusive society and ensuring the human rights of people with disability are recognised and respected.
OPA’s Supported Discussions Project team along with OPA’s Lived Experienced Advisory Committee have made the following video that explores the different kinds of decision-making that could impact a person with disability.
To do now
Watch this 5-minute video: Decision making: A human right and then complete a short quiz.
If you’d like to learn more about supported decision-making, you can read our guide Supported Decision-Making in Victoria.
For more actions you can take please visit https://www.humanrights.vic.gov.au/about-us/human-rights-week/ and scroll to the schedule.
#HRWVic2024
To do this week
Lisa, a member of our Lived Experience Advisory Committee and OPA staff member who has an acquired brain injury, recorded a series of interviews, where she seeks to explore how various organisations that provide services to people with disability view human rights, and what they are doing to promote the human rights of people with disability.
Listen to the interviews here: Human rights interviews
Check out some more projects from our Lived Experience Advisory Committee.
Today’s daily action is brought to you by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.
The Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities (the Charter) sets out the basic rights, freedoms and responsibilities of all people in Victoria. The Charter requires public authorities, such as Victorian state and local government departments and agencies, and people delivering services on behalf of government, to act consistently with the human rights in the Charter, to ensure that Victorians are not treated unfairly.
Twenty fundamental human rights are protected in the Charter because the Victorian Parliament recognises that, as human beings, we have basic rights.
What rights are included? What obligations are imposed on government? How are Victorians better off under a Charter? What is our Commission’s role in administering the Charter?
Today’s the day to refresh your knowledge of the Charter or learn something new.
To do today
Explore the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities. What is it? What rights are included? What obligations are imposed? How are Victorians better off under a Charter? What is our Commission’s role?
https://www.humanrights.vic.gov.au/legal-and-policy/victorias-human-rights-laws/the-charter/
To do next week
For everyone
Read about the rights of people with disabilities under the Equal Opportunity Act and the Charter.
- What are the two relevant Charter rights for people with disabilities
- Reflect on how accessible your workplace, school, or community is and suggest improvements
- Support events or organisations working for disability rights, such as the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO)
https://www.humanrights.vic.gov.au/hub/disability-rights/
For public sector workers
Read The Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities – A guide for Victorian public sector workers.
This guide has been designed as a practical tool to help public sector employees build their human rights knowledge and capability to contribute to a strong human rights culture.
Tomorrow’s daily action will be brought to you by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.
Today’s daily action is brought to you by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.
Individuals’ rights are protected in Victoria by four laws: the Equal Opportunity Act 2010, the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001, the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities and the Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Act 2021. These laws prohibit discrimination, sexual harassment, racial and religious vilification, victimisation and change or suppression practices. They also outline how human rights should be protected and promoted.
On the Commission’s website you will find 8 rights hubs – disability rights, employee and workplace rights, First Nations peoples rights, LGBTIQ rights, older people’s rights, racial and religious rights, youth rights – which highlight the relevant Charter rights for each group.
What rights are important to you? Find out how the Charter promotes and protects those rights. You can also learn more discriminatory behaviours, and all the places where your rights must be respected.
To do today (10 mins)
Explore our 8 rights hubs, 22 rights (protected attributes) and learn how human rights apply in everyday situations, such as housing, education, healthcare. Learn about behaviours that are discriminatory, and the places where your rights must be respected.
https://www.humanrights.vic.gov.au/for-individuals/
To do next week
- In Victoria, First Nations people also have cultural rights under the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities. What are the three charter rights that might be relevant to First Nations peoples?
https://www.humanrights.vic.gov.au/hub/aboriginal-rights/
- Read our Race discrimination in the workplace guideline and check out these Workplace anti-racism resources. Some of these resources are are available in Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Farsi, Hazaragi, Karen, Khmer, Korean, Punjabi, Somali, Turkish and Vietnamese. Share these knowledge and resources with your family and friends.
Today’s daily action is brought to you by the Commission for Children and Young People.
Racism is a difficult topic to talk about. How do we approach it?
All children and young people have the right to feel respected and valued. This Human Rights Week, please take two minutes to watch this video featuring Commissioner Meena Singh and our Youth Council member, Elias. They unpack conversations about racism and why it’s so important to address, even when it might be uncomfortable.
While these conversations are difficult… “it can make it a little bit easier for children and young people, to know that when they raise these things they’ll be listened to and they’ll be heard” – Meena Singh.
To do now (5 minutes)
It’s up to all of us to call out racism and create culturally safe environments for all children and young people. To watch the full video, head to: ccyp.vic.gov.au/child-safe-standards/cultural-safety/questions-and-answers/
#HRWVic2024
To do this week
You can also find more helpful resources and tips about cultural safety on our website: ccyp.vic.gov.au/child-safe-standards/cultural-safety/
For more actions you can take please visit humanrights.vic.gov.au/about-us/human-rights-week/ and scroll to the schedule.
Tomorrow’s action will be brought to you by the Victorian Multicultural Commission.
Today, we commemorate Human Rights Day with a special message from our Chairperson, Viv Nguyen. This day reminds us of the importance of dignity, equality, and freedom for all.
At the Victorian Multicultural Commission, we remain dedicated to fostering inclusion, fairness and justice across all communities in Victoria.
To do now
📢 Watch Viv’s message and join us in celebrating diversity and standing up for human rights today and every day. Video link: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/Tnth25jhyAbW5Hmy/
To do this week
Celebrate your culture with us! Share a photo or video of yourself in your cultural clothing or record yourself saying “hi” in your own language.
Tag @multiculturevic and use the hashtags #HRWVic2024. By doing so, you’ll help promote a more inclusive and respectful community for everyone.
#HRWVic2024 #VMC #CulturalRights #ShareYourStory #HumanRightsDay #InclusiveCommunity
Today’s action was brought to you by the Victorian Multicultural Commission.
