Darren Dick is a legal and policy advisor specialising in human rights. He has worked at the Australian Human Rights Commission since 1998, managing the Commission’s human rights policy agenda and previously as a senior adviser on indigenous and race discrimination issues. Prior to that he worked at the Australian Law Reform Commission (an independent statutory authority that provides legal advice to the federal government on law reform matters). Darren was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2022 for outstanding contribution to national policy on human rights. In his current role as Senior Policy Executive – Human Rights and Strategy, Darren coordinates the Commission’s policy and research across all areas of activity (indigenous issues, children’s rights, race, sex, age and disability discrimination, immigration and asylum seekers, LGBTIQA+ rights, and rights and freedoms).

At present, this includes leading the Commission’s Free and Equal national human rights reform project and oversighting the development of a National Anti-Racism Framework and the roll out of a positive duty to prevent sexual harassment under the Sex Discrimination Act. He has also fulfilled an advisory role for the Commission at a vast range of United Nations forums ranging from the universal periodic review (across 3 cycles), negotiations on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, human rights treaty committees appearances (CERD, ICESCR, CAT, CRPD, CRC), world conferences, Indigenous specific forums (such as technical workshops, Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues), regional technical assistance projects (in Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam, China, ASEAN) and regional forums and workshops of national human rights institutions (such as through the Asia-Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions).

From 1999—2010 he was the Director of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner’s team at the Commission. In this role he led a significant research agenda and production of the annual Social Justice Report to the federal Parliament (which reports on the status of enjoyment of human rights by Indigenous peoples in Australia) as well as the Native Title Report to federal Parliament (which reports on the impact of native title legislation on indigenous human rights). He led the Secretariat supporting a national consultation process to establish a new national Indigenous representative organisation and has played a leading role in developing the Close the Gap approach to indigenous disadvantage (which has led to substantial new commitments and reforms from government to close the gap in life expectancy for Indigenous peoples in Australia).

Darren has published in a range of legal and policy journals including the Australian Journal of Human Rights; Journal of the Academy of Social Sciences; Indigenous Law Bulletin; Alternative Law Journal; although the vast majority of his writing has appeared as speeches, submissions and reports by the Commission. Darren is also a Board Director with 15 years experience for organisations providing disability services and advocacy promoting the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. He is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.