Rights Aotearoa

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Media Release: Rights Aotearoa Welcomes High Court Ruling: Minister's Appointments Declared Unlawful

Media Release: Rights Aotearoa Welcomes High Court Ruling: Minister's Appointments Declared Unlawful

WELLINGTON – Rights Aotearoa welcomes the judgment delivered today by the High Court in Thistoll v Minister of Justice [2025] NZHC 4067, which declares that the Minister of Justice acted unlawfully in his decision-making process regarding recent appointments to the Human Rights Commission.

Media Release: Rights Aotearoa Backs Urgent Legal Action To Stop Blocker Ban

Media Release: Rights Aotearoa Backs Urgent Legal Action To Stop Blocker Ban

Rights Aotearoa Newsletter #7

Rights Aotearoa Newsletter #7

Media Release: Government Bans Trans Youth While Protecting Cisgender Access to Puberty Blockers.

Media Release: Government Bans Trans Youth While Protecting Cisgender Access to Puberty Blockers.

The Tool Isn't Broken – The Wielders Are Corrupt - A Defence of the HDCA

The Tool Isn't Broken – The Wielders Are Corrupt - A Defence of the HDCA

Rights Aotearoa Newsletter #6

Rights Aotearoa Newsletter #6

Letter to Stephen Rainbow re: Urgent Request for Public Statement on Draft Health and Physical Education Curriculum

Letter to Stephen Rainbow re: Urgent Request for Public Statement on Draft Health and Physical Education Curriculum

Media Releases

Media Release: Rights Aotearoa Backs Urgent Legal Action To Stop Blocker Ban

Media Release: Rights Aotearoa Backs Urgent Legal Action To Stop Blocker Ban

Rights Aotearoa unequivocally supports the urgent legal action filed today by the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa (PATHA) to halt the Government’s discriminatory ban on puberty blockers.

Media Release: Government Bans Trans Youth While Protecting Cisgender Access to Puberty Blockers.

Media Release: Government Bans Trans Youth While Protecting Cisgender Access to Puberty Blockers.

Media Release: Draft Curriculum Erases Rainbow Students and Breaches Human Rights Obligations

Media Release: Draft Curriculum Erases Rainbow Students and Breaches Human Rights Obligations

Media Release: Rights Aotearoa Calls on Government to Reject Social Media Age Ban

Media Release: Rights Aotearoa Calls on Government to Reject Social Media Age Ban

MEDIA RELEASE – Broadcasting standards must protect all New Zealanders – regardless of platform

MEDIA RELEASE – Broadcasting standards must protect all New Zealanders – regardless of platform

Media Release: Rights Aotearoa's CEO Files Complaint with New Zealand Media Council Over Stuff Opinion Column

Media Release: Rights Aotearoa's CEO Files Complaint with New Zealand Media Council Over Stuff Opinion Column

Media Release: Rights Aotearoa calls for united Opposition commitment to repeal the Regulatory Standards Act in the first 30 days of any future left-wing coalition government, should the Bill become law.

Media Release: Rights Aotearoa calls for united Opposition commitment to repeal the Regulatory Standards Act in the first 30 days of any future left-wing coalition government, should the Bill become law.

Letters

Letter to Stephen Rainbow re: Urgent Request for Public Statement on Draft Health and Physical Education Curriculum

Letter to Stephen Rainbow re: Urgent Request for Public Statement on Draft Health and Physical Education Curriculum

I write to you both as the Chief Executive of Rights Aotearoa and as a fellow advocate for human rights in Aotearoa, regarding a matter of urgent concern that falls squarely within the Commission's mandate to promote and protect human rights in New Zealand.

Letter to Hon Erica Stanford Re: Draft Health and Physical Education Curriculum – Human Rights Concerns Regarding Erasure of LGBTTQIA+ Content

Letter to Hon Erica Stanford Re: Draft Health and Physical Education Curriculum – Human Rights Concerns Regarding Erasure of LGBTTQIA+ Content

Letter to Hon Louise Upston - Urgent Investigation Required – Alleged Torture of Children at Gloriavale

Letter to Hon Louise Upston - Urgent Investigation Required – Alleged Torture of Children at Gloriavale

Letter to the Chief Human Rights Commissioner re Ia Tangata

Letter to the Chief Human Rights Commissioner re Ia Tangata

Letter to Paul Goldsmith re the Law Commission's R150 - Ia Tangata.

Letter to Paul Goldsmith re the Law Commission's R150 - Ia Tangata.

Meeting Request: Transparency and Leadership Accountability at the Human Rights Commission

Meeting Request: Transparency and Leadership Accountability at the Human Rights Commission

Formal Complaint to Stuff re: The Hui episode on gender

Formal Complaint to Stuff re: The Hui episode on gender

Submissions

Oral Submission to the Governance and Administration Select Committee Against The Public Service Amendment Bill 2025

Oral Submission to the Governance and Administration Select Committee Against The Public Service Amendment Bill 2025

Rights Aotearoa - Paul Thistoll, CEO

SUBMISSION TO THE JUSTICE COMMITTEE Summary Offences (Demonstrations Near Residential Premises) Amendment Bill

SUBMISSION TO THE JUSTICE COMMITTEE Summary Offences (Demonstrations Near Residential Premises) Amendment Bill

Rights Aotearoa's Submission on the Draft Standard Code of Conduct for Local Government

Rights Aotearoa's Submission on the Draft Standard Code of Conduct for Local Government

Rights Aotearoa's Submission to the People's Select Committee on the Equal Pay Amendment Act 2025

Rights Aotearoa's Submission to the People's Select Committee on the Equal Pay Amendment Act 2025

Countering Hate Speech Aotearoa Submission to the Law Commission's Ia Tangata Project

Countering Hate Speech Aotearoa Submission to the Law Commission's Ia Tangata Project

SUBMISSION TO THE FINANCE AND EXPENDITURE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE PUBLIC SERVICE AMENDMENT BILL 2025

SUBMISSION TO THE FINANCE AND EXPENDITURE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE PUBLIC SERVICE AMENDMENT BILL 2025

Our (expanded) oral Submission to the Education and Workforce Select Committee on the Education and Training Amendment Bill (No 2)

Our (expanded) oral Submission to the Education and Workforce Select Committee on the Education and Training Amendment Bill (No 2)

Weekly Newsletters

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Rights Aotearoa Newsletter #7

Rights Aotearoa Newsletter #6

Rights Aotearoa Newsletter #5

Rights Aotearoa Newsletter #4

Rights Aotearoa Newsletter #3

Opinion

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The Tool Isn't Broken – The Wielders Are Corrupt - A Defence of the HDCA

Beyond the Binary: A Principled Framework for Hate Speech Reform in Aotearoa New Zealand

We just published a new info page: Universal Human Rights v Civil Liberties Approaches

Opinion Piece: The Death of the Marketplace—Reimagining Free Speech as a Discursive Ecosystem

Yesterday, We Became Less of a Democracy

Trans Rights

More

Rights Aotearoa Media Release: Law Commission report marks significant progress for the human rights of people who are transgender, people who are non-binary, and people with innate variations of sex characteristics.

Countering Hate Speech Aotearoa Submission to the Law Commission's Ia Tangata Project

RIGHTS AOTEAROA CONDEMNS IN THE STRONGEST POSSIBLE TERMS THE GOVERNMENT'S ERASURE OF TRANS PEOPLE FROM SPORTING LIFE

It's a good time to republish this letter to the AG re sports.