The retiring President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Professor Gillian Triggs, is to be honoured for her fearless work in pursuit of people’s rights.

She is the recipient of the nation’s top free speech prize the Voltaire Award.

Given by Australia’s oldest human rights organisation, Liberty Victoria, it celebrates those who speak out, write, campaign, stand against authoritarianism or expose through whistle-blowing. Often award winners have gone beyond the call of duty or office and refused to be cowed or silenced.

Liberty Victoria’s Rights Advocacy Project (‘RAP’) today released a new report revealing the dramatic rise in the personal discretions and legal powers of the Immigration Minister.

One of the report’s authors, Lauren Bull, said that RAP’s investigations had found that despite previous Immigration Ministers warning that the Minister already held too much unchecked personal discretion, there was an alarming trend towards further expanding the Minister’s personal powers and removing checks and balances.