The Australian Human Rights Commission runs documents on search engines

The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) announced an incident with data injuries, in which private documents were leaked online and were indicated by large search engines.

Many of the hundreds of online documents contained private, sensitive information such as names, contact information, health details, school education, religion, employment information and photos.

AHRC is an independent legal body established by the Australian government with the main task of promoting and protecting human rights in the country.

It receives and examines discrimination complaints, monitors compliance with international human rights obligations, carries out inquiries and research and monitors associated projects and initiatives.

Although the organization has no court powers, it receives symptoms from the public and tries to solve them through reduction, while it relates to unresolved cases to federal courts.

According to an announcement published on the AHRC website, the violation of the submissions between the following data affects:

• Approval form between March 24, 2025 and April 10, 2025
• Project “Speak From Experience” between March 2024 and September 2024
• Submissions to the National Anti-Racism Framework Concept Paper between October 2021 and February 2022

A total of 670 documents were uncovered online and accessed between April 3 and May 5, 2025.

While some documents already reveal public personal information, other sensitive data that may damage people who submit in the context of the topics that deal with AHRC.

The organization said the incident was not due to malicious external attacks, but further details will be available in a future update.

In the meantime, AHRC has applied for the immediate removal of the indicated files from search engines and deactivated all web forms in order to prevent subsequent exposure due to the underlying misunderstandings.

A committed task force and examination are underway, while the office of the Australian information commissioner (OAIC) ​​was also notified.

Those who are determined to be affected by this incident are personally notified, and a helpline has been set up to offer support.

In addition to the Standard Council “Pay attention to fraud or suspicious activity”, AHRC also lists links to the support of mental health, which shows that such a data burden can cause the data subject.