About the ACT Human Rights & Discrimination Commissioner
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The ACT Human Rights & Discrimination Commissioner is one of three Commissioners within the ACT Human Rights Commission.
The current Human Rights and Discrimation Commissioner is Dr Helen Watchirs.
Dr Watchirs provides community education and information about the rights protected in the ACT Human Rights Act 2004.
Human rights are universal, and enjoyed by everyone in the ACT regardless of gender, religious belief, nationality, race or any other point of difference.
The ACT was the first jurisdiction in Australia to enact a Human Rights Act, which provides an explicit statutory basis for respecting, protecting and promoting civil and political rights. Rights protected include:
- Recognition and equality before the law;
- The right to life;
- The right not to be subject to torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment;
- The right not to be subject to medical treatment or experimentation without consent;
- The right to privacy and reputation;
- Rights of the family and children;
- The right to participate in public life;
- Freedom of expression;
- Freedom of thought, conscience and religious belief;
- Rights of minorities to enjoy their culture;
- Freedom of movement;
- The right to a fair trial and rights in criminal proceedings; and
- Freedom from forced work.
These rights reflect Australia’s international human rights obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The first statement of 'human rights' internationally came in the form of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a United Nations Declaration that was a precursor to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
More information on these United Nations Documents is available at http://www.un.org/en/rights/index.shtml
Dr Helen Watchirs, OAM was appointed as the ACT Human Rights and Discrimination Commissioner in 2004. In addition to discrimination complaints handling, her work has focussed on Human Rights Audits of ACT detention facilities.
Dr Watchirs has 28 years experience as a human rights lawyer working for Federal Government agencies, and as an employee or consultant to several United Nations agencies in Geneva, including UNAIDS, the World Health Organization, International Labour Organization, UN Development Program and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Her PhD in Human Rights and Masters in Public Law from the ANU focus on HIV/AIDS issues. She is a member of the Federal Ministerial Advisory Council on Blood Borne Viruses & Sexually Transmissible Infections, and co-chairs its Legal Working Group. Dr Watchirs has been awarded several scholarships by organisations including the Harvard/WHO Collaborating Centre on Health Legislation (Boston), the NH & MRC, and the AIDS Trust (Jonathan Mann Health & Human Rights Fellowship).
At the community level Dr Watchirs chaired the ACT Disability Aged and Carer Advocacy Service in 1997-99, and was a legal member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal in 1997-2003 and the ANU Ethics Committee.
