?Nominations Open for Human Rights Awards

Nominations are open for the Human Rights Awards which recognise individuals who have made a significant contribution to human rights in Australia.

Previous recipients of the awards include Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe, entrepreneur and wife of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Thérèse Rein and Indigenous land rights campaigner Eddie Mabo.

Individuals and organisations can be nominated for the 2013 Australian Human Rights Awards.

Australian Human Rights Commission president, Gillian Triggs said the Australian Human Rights Awards were a unique opportunity to celebrate the work of individuals and organisations who contribute to human rights in Australia.

“Ian Thorpe won the Human Rights Medal last year in recognition of his passionate advocacy over more than a decade for Indigenous people and young Australians,” she said.

“21-year-old Krista McMeeken won the Young People’s Human Rights Medal for her outstanding work with the WA Aboriginal Legal Service and the Child Rights Taskforce.”

Entrants must have made a significant contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights in Australia and have been active in the area between September 2012 and September 2013.

Areas of interest could include a contribution in:

• taking action to overcome discrimination or infringements of human rights within Australia

• encouraging greater social harmony within Australia in a range of areas such as race relations, gender equality and the treatment of children and young people

• enhancing the rights of Indigenous Australians

• promoting equal opportunity for people with a disability in Australia or countering discrimination on the basis of age or sexuality.

• increasing awareness of issues of injustice or inequality in Australia.

Ian Thorpe will be a guest speaker at this year’s awards, which will be held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney on December 10.

The award categories include:

• The Human Rights Medal

• The Young People’s Human Rights Medal

• The Business Award

• The Literature Award

• The Print and Online Media Award, the Radio Award, the Television Award

• The Community Organisation Award, and

• The Law Award

Details are online at http://hrawards.humanrights.gov.au