Ten photos that changed how we see human rights

Editor's note

It’s almost 70 years since the United Nations proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. To mark the occasion it mounted an ambitious photo exhibition that aimed to create a sense of a universal humanity. Photographs, writes Jane Lydon, can evoke fellow feeling with someone different from ourselves. From the dignified portrait of a freed slave to a shocking image of a colonial massacre, to the proud selfie of a refugee, Lydon nominates 10 photographs that have changed how we think about human rights.

Suzy Freeman-Greene

Section Editor: Arts + Culture

Top story

This 1904 photograph showing the massacre of villagers by Dutch KNIL forces in the Indonesian village of Koetö Réh was used by the Dutch to argue for the paternalistic colonial state as protector. We now see it as evidence of imperial atrocity. Collection Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen.

Ten photos that changed how we see human rights

Jane Lydon, University of Western Australia

From depictions of slavery to colonial massacres to contemporary portraits of refugees, photography is a powerful tool in evoking ideas of shared humanity.

Cities
Our fast-growing cities and their people are proving to be remarkably adaptable Marion Terrill, Grattan Institute Urban growth has had much less impact on commuting distances and times than media reports would suggest. The explanations include jobs being widely dispersed and residents' adaptable decision-making.

Politics + Society

Why a national apology and redress for discharged LGBT service members matters

Noah Riseman, Australian Catholic University

State governments have apologised for past laws discriminating against LGBT people. LGBT service members deserve the same from the ADF, as well as a path toward redress.
Labor to hold its own ‘hearings’ for bank victims

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Shorten's extra royal commission hearings and legislating the GST carve-up.
Why the media needs to be more responsible for how it links Islam and Islamist terrorism

Audrey Courty, Griffith University; Halim Rane, Griffith University

Sensationalist media coverage serves the Islamic State's objective by pitting Muslims and non-Muslims against one another.

Business + Economy

Relax. The divide between the taxed and the ‘taxed-nots’ isn’t new and doesn’t buy elections

Peter Whiteford, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University

Its extremely common, everywhere, for large numbers of people to pay no net tax. It tells us nothing about the size of the welfare state or about whether it bribes people to keep tax high.
Three simple steps to fix our banks

Elise Bant, University of Melbourne

Getting better behaved banks isn't difficult. Here are three places to start.

Education
A new national set of priorities for VET would make great social and economic sense Robin Shreeve, Federation University Australia VET needs a new set of priorities and operating principles that are fit for the future.

Health + Medicine

The NDIS hasn’t made much difference to carers’ opportunities for paid work

Myra Hamilton, UNSW

The NDIS aims to help people with disability live more independently. It was hoped this would reduce carers' responsibilities and allow them more time to work. But evidence shows this hasn't happened.
Retraction of a journal article doesn’t make its findings false

Stephen S Holden, Macquarie Graduate School of Management

The journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) recently retracted several papers by a leading researcher on food and consumption. What does this mean for the researcher's findings?

Environment + Energy
The road to here: rivers were the highways of Australia’s colonial history Imogen Wegman, University of Tasmania Today, many Australian urbanites see rivers as little more than picturesque places for a paddle. But in the colonial era, rivers served as highways, drinking sources, sewers, and routes to discovery.

Science + Technology
Satellite measurements of slow ground movements may provide a better tool for earthquake forecasting Simon Lamb, Victoria University of Wellington Research shows that satellite GPS measurements could provide a better tool for earthquake forecasting.