Honour your human rights heroes

Nominating is easy using the secure Award Force platform. 

• Nominating is free.
• You can nominate yourself or the organisation you work for, or a person or organisation you admire.
• People and organisations can be nominated in multiple categories.

Tell us why your nominee should get an award
What has the nominee accomplished? How has their work made an impact? What’s the broader context of achievements or contributions? What prompted you to submit your nomination? Provide as much information about their achievements and/or service as possible.

Keep it clear and concise
For your nomination to shine, it needn't be long. Aim for quality not quantity. Focus on the work related to the category.

Provide supporting material

Supporting material such as photographs, newspaper clippings, and links to blogs/websites are great. But be sure these are relevant to your nomination.

Nominations for the 2025 Human Rights Awards close on Monday 18 August 2025.

Finalists will be announced on Monday 6 October 2025.

In choosing the recipients for the Awards, consideration is given to the nominee’s achievements in the year prior to receiving the award, as well as their ongoing contribution to the advancement of human rights.

An individual, organisation or community group need only be nominated once to be considered. The number of nominations received per nominee carries no weight in the judging process.

To be eligible for nomination, entrants must have made an outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights in Australia in at least one of the following areas, and been active in this area between 1 September 2024 and 31 August 2025:

• Taking action to overcome discrimination or infringements of human rights within Australia
• Encouraging greater harmony between people of different race, sex, sexuality, age or ethnic origin within Australia
• Enhancing the rights of Indigenous Australians
• Promoting equal opportunity for people with a disability in Australia, or
• Increasing awareness of issues of injustice or inequality in Australia. 

Eligibility criteria

• Nominees must be an Australian citizen OR have resident status and be living in Australia OR be an organisation or association that is registered in Australia.
• Self-nominations are accepted
• Unsuccessful nominations may be re-nominated in subsequent years 

Category criteria

• People and organisations can be nominated in multiple categories.
• Nominations for people aged 25 years or under (as of 31 August in the Awards year) will be considered for the Young People's Award
• Eligibility is dependent on the award category and may be open to businesses, groups, organisations and/or individuals.

Judging criteria

Selection panels will consider the following when assessing and comparing nominations against the above criteria:

• Does the nominee contribute to the advancement of human rights issues in Australia?
• Does the entry provide specific examples of their contribution?
• Has the nominee been a leader in this area of work in their community?
• Has the nominee raised community awareness of the issue?
• Has the nominee been able to provide a network of support for the issue?
• What was the outcome of the nominee’s contribution?
• How effective was the outcome?
• Did the nominee overcome any obstacles to achieve their outcome?

Every year, the Australian Human Rights Commission presents the Human Rights Day Oration to mark World Human Rights Day (December 10)

The Oration is delivered by a leading Australian working in the field of human rights and social justice or whose work protects and promotes human rights. The Oration is usually delivered by the recipient of the previous year’s Human Rights Medal.

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we commissioned a new emblem for the Australian Human Rights Awards.

The emblem is an artwork titled Djilba which has been created by First Nations artist Kambarni.

Reflecting the United Nations logo for human rights – which combines the shapes of a hand (representing humanity) and a bird ( representing peace) – the new emblem reinterprets this logo with a uniquely Australian and First Nations sensibility.

Kambarni is a prolific artist, designer, and illustrator, who reflects the natural world with intricate and graphic interpretations of Australian histories:

“This artwork considers the interplay between people and their environment, acknowledging that we are all part of something greater than ourselves - nature and humans are cyclic and connected - and what we put out into this world, we get back.”

Djilba means ‘first spring’ for the Noongar people of the Perth region in Western Australia.

For more information about nominating or attending the Awards, please contact us:

• 1300 369 711

• aushumanrightsawards@humanrights.gov.au

Nominees cannot be:

• an employee of the Australian Human Rights Commission
• an employee of a direct supplier of commercial products or services to the Australian Human Rights Commission
• a member of the 2025 Australian Human Rights Awards judging panels
• a partner organisation or an employee of a partner organisation of the 2025 Australian Human Rights Awards

Nominations for all awards must be received by 5pm Monday 18 August 2025 (AEST), unless otherwise extended.

All submitted nominations and supporting material remain the property of the Australian Human Rights Commission and will not be returned.

The judging panel will select up to four (4) finalists and one (1) winner for each category.

The judges' decision is final and no further correspondence will be entered into.

The person who nominates a finalist will receive one (1) complimentary ticket to the 2025 Australian Human Rights Awards. Only one (1) ticket per nomination.

Should there be multiple nominators for one finalist, the first nomination for that finalist will receive the one (1) complimentary ticket to the 2025 Australian Human Rights Awards event.

Nominees must agree to any reasonable local, state or national marketing and media publicity associated with the 2025 Australian Human Rights Awards.

All finalists will be announced by Monday 6 October 2025.

Finalists are required, where possible, to attend the awards presentation ceremony and will each be given two (2) complimentary tickets to the 2025 Australian Human Rights Awards event.

The winner of each category will be announced at the 2025 Australian Human Rights Awards event in Sydney on Friday 12 December 2025.

The Commission established the Awards in 1987 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 Awards have evolved over 3 decades to align with Australia’s ever-changing human rights landscape. Originally recognising human rights in film, television and literature, the Award categories now span across a broader field. 

The Human Rights Medal has been a constant. Recipients include:

• Rose Colless OAM

• Fred Hollows

• Peter Greste

• Dorothy Hoddinott AO

• Ian Thorpe

• Jonathan Thurston

• The Hon Peter McClellan AM QC and Chrissie Foster AM

• Rosemary Kayess

• Professor Larissa Behrendt AO.

Since 1987, the Australian Human Rights Commission (formerly the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission) has recognised the extraordinary contribution to Australian society of a wide variety of people and organisations committed to issues of human rights, social justice and equality through the annual Human Rights Medal and Awards.

Search the database of past Human Rights Awards recipients and finalists. Recipients and finalists are searchable by year and category.

A list of past Human Rights Awards recipients and finalists by year:

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

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1987