News
Children's Rights
Australian parents and kids deserve better
In a joint op-ed, National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds and Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay contend that the proposed ban on social media access for Australians under 16 merely addresses surface issues without improving overall safety on these platforms.
Children's Rights
New animation – ‘Do things with the information we tell you’
In the Supporting Quality Engagement with Children 2023 Final Report, children and young people said they want to see action based on what they told us about their lived experience.
Children's Rights
Proposed Social Media Ban for Under-16s in Australia
The Australian Government is proposing laws that will require technology companies to restrict individuals under the age of 16 years from accessing their social media platforms.
Children's Rights
NT youth crime laws fail children and the community
National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds said the passing of legislation in the Northern Territory that will see children as young as 10 years old jailed is a failure of all the support systems that should be helping these children.
Children's Rights
NT Government urged not to lower age of criminal responsibility
The National Children’s Commissioner and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Commissioner have urged the Northern Territory Government to reverse its plan next week to introduce a new law to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 12 to ten years.
Children's Rights
We must ‘help way earlier’ – united call to address systemic failures of Australia’s youth justice systems
Joint media release: Justice Reform Initiative and Australian Human Rights Commission Law and justice leaders, parliamentarians, First Nations leaders, child safety advocates, community service providers, peak organisations, and people with lived experience of child imprisonment from around...
Children's Rights
National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds Press Club address
Read the speech to the National Press Club about her major report 'Help Way Earlier!: How Australia can transform child justice and improve safety and wellbeing'.
Children's Rights
Australia is failing its children. A ‘tough on crime’ approach to youth justice puts politics before prevention
In an opinion piece published in The Guardian Australian, National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds reflects on the urgent need for child justice reform after the release of a landmark report by the AHRC.
Children's Rights
A tragic start to National Child Protection Week
As the launch of National Child Protection Week throws the spotlight on creating better futures where children and young people flourish, the National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds is speaking up for the thousands of children whose futures are bleak because Australian governments do not...
Children's Rights
A step backwards for child justice and community safety in Queensland
The Queensland Government’s ‘Community Safety Act’ allowing more children to be locked up in the first instance is another step backwards for child justice and community safety, National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds said. “We all want to live in communities where kids can flourish and where...
Children's Rights
Australian Human Rights Commission condemns children’s isolation cells
Grave concern over recently released CCTV footage depicting a First Nations child of 13 years of age with an intellectual disability, being forcibly restrained