A coalition of 68 NGOs - coordinated by the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, Kingsford Legal Centre and the National Association of Community Legal Centres - has submitted a 5 page Report to the UN Human Rights Council on Australia, setting out key human rights issues and concrete recommendations, including in relation to:

• the legal recognition and protection of human rights
• Australia’s cooperation with international human rights mechanisms
• equality and non-discrimination
• women’s rights
• children’s rights
• the rights of people with disability
• GLBTI rights
• Indigenous rights, including in respect of the Northern Territory Intervention, the criminal justice system, native title, the Stolen Generations, Stolen Wages, and access to adequate health care, housing and education
• the rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers
• prisoners’ rights and conditions of detention
• police use of force and oversight and complaint mechanisms
• the administration of justice
• homelessness
• mental health care
• human rights and counter-terrorism
• business and human rights
• international assistance and Australian foreign policy

The report was submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on 12 July 2010.

Further information on Australia’s review under the UPR process is available at www.hrlrc.org.au/content/topics/international-human-rights-mechanisms/universal-periodic-review-of-australia-in-february-2011/.

The submisssion of the Australian Human Rights Commission for the UPR is at http://www.humanrights.gov.au/upr/index.html.

The Australian Government report for the UPR is at www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/Page/Humanrightsandanti-discrimination_InternationalHumanRights_UniversalPeriodicReview. 

In July 2010, the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, together with the National Association of Community Legal Centres, submitted a major NGO submission on Australia to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 

The report, which was endorsed by a coalition of over 100 NGOs, details that racial and religious minority groups in Australia continue to experience racism in their daily lives and to suffer unequal human rights treatment and outcomes.  There remain serious concerns about the racially discriminatory character and impact of a range of Australian laws, policies and practices.  Many of the advances in human rights protection since the election of the Labor Government in 2007 have been symbolic in nature; structural changes necessary to turn commitments into practice still need to be made.

The NGO report documents areas in which Australia is falling short of fulfilling its obligations under CERD and focuses on areas that have been the subject of extensive NGO activity and research in Australia.

Subjects detailed in the report include:

• the lack of sufficient legal protection from racial discrimination in Australian law, policy and practice, including the ineffectiveness and, at times, unavailability of remedies for violations;
• the ongoing discriminatory outcomes experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the enjoyment of many civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights;
• the impact of the Northern Territory Intervention on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;
• the adverse impact of laws, policies and practices on asylum seekers, refugees and other non-citizens;
• the various forms of discrimination faced by migrant communities in Australia;
• the impact of Australia’s counter-terrorism laws on Somali, Kurd and Muslim communities in Australia; and
• the need for better implementation of Concluding Observations of human rights treaty monitoring bodies and a worrying trend in Australia’s response to views of those bodies.

The report contains concrete recommendations for Australian authorities, which would bring Australia more fully into compliance with its obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; an Australia in which all persons can live with freedom, respect, equality and dignity.

On 6 July 2010, the Human Rights Law Resource Centre made a Follow-Up Submission on Implementation of the Human Rights Committee’s Concluding Observations on Australia.  The submission updates the Committee as to:

• the four Concluding Observations about which the Committee requested relevant information on implementation from Australia within one year (namely, counter-terrorism law and policy, the Northern Territory Emergency Response, violence against women and mandatory immigration detention); and
• the outcomes of the National Human Rights Consultation.

Further background information on each of these issues is contained in the comprehensive NGO Report, Addendum and fact sheets provided to the Committee in 2009, available at http://www.hrlrc.org.au/content/topics/civil-and-political-rights/un-human-rights-committee-review-of-australia-march-2009/.

Historic First as Treaty Body Calls on Australia to Address Climate Change and Increase Foreign Aid

The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has urged Australia to make human rights a priority at a time when the global financial crisis threatens the dignity, equality and freedom of many poor and vulnerable groups.  In a landmark report, the Committee also called on Australia to take urgent action to address the human rights implications of climate change and to increase aid to developing countries; the fist time that a UN treaty body has included recommendations on these issues in a human rights report. 

On 25 May 2009, the Committee released its report card following a review of Australia’s compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.  The Committee, which is comprised of 18 independent experts from across the world, commended Australia on recent initiatives and advances, including the national human rights consultation, efforts to combat violence against women, and the Apology to the Stolen Generations. 

The Committee also, however, made 26 recommendations for Australia to improve its human rights performance, including by implementing comprehensive national human rights legislation. 

‘An Australian Human Rights Act could improve public services, promote more responsive and accountable government, and address disadvantage,’ said Phil Lynch, Director of the Human Rights Law Resource Centre.  The Committee recommended that a Human Rights Act, which is actively being considered by an independent panel chaired by Fr Frank Brennan, should be enacted and enshrine the full range of economic and social rights, such as the right to adequate healthcare and housing.  ‘The Committee affirmed that it is meaningless to talk of a right to privacy without a right to adequate housing,’ Mr Lynch said.

The Committee also expressed concern that, despite ‘the absence of any significant factors or difficulties impeding the effective implementation of the Covenant’ in Australia, substantial problems persist in areas such as mental health, poverty, homelessness and inequality. 

‘Mental health care services are chronically under-resourced in Australia.  Only one in three people with mental illness are able to access adequate treatment,’ said Annie Pettitt of the National Association of Community Legal Centres.  The Committee was particularly critical of the ‘high rate of incarceration of people with mental diseases’ and called on Australia to ‘ensure all prisoners receive adequate and appropriate mental health treatment when needed’. 

Despite previous UN recommendations, the Committee was told that Australia has not developed an official poverty line and accepted evidence that ‘12 per cent of the Australian population live in poverty’.  In response, the Committee urged Australia to ‘take all necessary measures to combat poverty and social exclusion and to develop a comprehensive poverty reduction and social inclusion strategy’. 

In a related recommendation, the Committee called on Australia to ensure universal and adequate social security coverage and review potentially discriminatory and punitive measures, including the ‘quarantining’ of payments under the Northern Territory Intervention.  ‘With unemployment rates rising, many Australians will struggle to make ends meet because social security payments are insufficient to guarantee an adequate standard of living and to enable participation in our community,’ said Ms Pettitt. 

While the Committee welcomed the Rudd Government’s recent commitment to halve homelessness by 2020, it noted that homelessness has increased over the last decade, a period of unprecedented prosperity.  According to Ms Pettitt, the fact that 105,000 people experience homelessness every night is evidence that Australia needs to take further and urgent action to ensure an adequate standard of living for all.  ‘Even during the good times, many disadvantaged and vulnerable groups did not have equal access to basic services,’ said Ms Pettitt.  ‘Now that we are in recession, sustained investment in basic human rights is critical.  Human rights must be made recession proof,’ she said.  ‘The Australian Government has an obligation to ensure that basic entitlements, such as health care, education and adequate social security payments, are provided to all Australians.’ 

The Committee also made a series of recommendations to address inequality, including the enactment of comprehensive federal anti-discrimination laws, strengthened efforts to improve gender equality, special measures to improve workforce participation among disadvantaged groups, and immediate steps to ‘close the gap’ in Indigenous health inequality. 

Calling on the Australian Government to act promptly and positively on the report, Mr Lynch said ‘Australia’s obligation to protect basic social and economic rights doesn’t recede during tough economic times.  On the contrary, human rights protections are more important than ever now because it is the most disadvantaged groups – the unemployed, the homeless, people with mental illness, single mothers and their children – who are most adversely affected.’

Background

The Committee met in Geneva and reviewed Australia between 4 and 6 May 2009.  The Committee was briefed by a non-government delegation (including the Human Rights Law Resource Centre and the National Association of Community Legal Centres) on 4 and 5 May and a Government delegation on 5 and 6 May. 

The Committee’s Concluding Observations were released on 25 May 2009 and are available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cescr/docs/AdvanceVersions/E-C12-AUS-CO-4.doc. 

The Australian Government is yet to announce its response to the recommendations.

For further information about the Committee’s review of Australia, including comprehensive NGO reports, see: http://www.hrlrc.org.au/content/topics/esc-rights/icescr-ngo-report-australia-un-committee-on-economic-social-and-cultural-rights/.

On 4 May 2009, a non-government delegation, comprising representatives from the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, the National Association of Community Legal Centres and Kingsford Legal Centre, will brief the Committee on the state of  human rights in Australia and measures to improve performance.  The Committee will release its report on Australia on or around 22 May 2009.

The Human Rights Law Resource Centre, together with the National Association of Community Legal Centres and Kingsford Legal Centre, has submitted the following materials to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights regarding Australia:

• Freedom, Respect, Equality, Dignity: Action – NGO Submission to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (April 2008)  [PDF] [Word].  This major report was compiled with the assistance of substantial contributions from over 30 NGOs across Australia.  It is endorsed, in whole or in part, by over 100 NGOs.  The Executive Summary of the report has also been translated into French and Spanish.  This report was intended to assist the Committee to prepare a List of Issues for Australia during the Pre-Sessional Working Group meeting from 19 to 23 May 2008.   It is also intended to ensure that the Committee is equipped to engage in a rigorous and constructive dialogue with Australia when it is reviewed by the Committee in 2009.
• Freedom, Respect, Equality, Dignity: Action – Addendum to NGO Submission to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (April 2009)  [PDF] [Word].  This addendum updates the Committee on major human rights developments between April 2008 and April 2009.
• Executive Summary of NGO Reports (April 2009) [PDF] [Word].  The Executive Summary was prepared as the primary working document for the Committee members and the Secretariat.  The Executive Summary:
  • provides a brief introduction and comments on the context of the review by the Committee, including significant positive developments in the promotion and protection of Covenant rights in Australia;
  • addresses the List of Issues developed by the Committee;
  • outlines our major additional concerns that are not raised in the List of Issues; and
  • includes an updated list of Proposed Recommendations that we consider would be important to include in the Committee’s Concluding Observations on Australia.

Together, these Reports provide a comprehensive and constructive analysis of the state of ESC rights in Australia and make a range of targeted recommendations to address disadvantage and poverty.  The Reports document a number of areas in which Australia is falling short of its obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The Reports focus on areas that have been the subject of extensive NGO activity and research in Australia.  Subjects detailed in the Reports include:

• the lack of legal recognition and protection of economic, social and cultural rights;
• the nature and extent of poverty in Australia and the need for a comprehensive national poverty reduction strategy;
• Indigenous self-determination and disadvantage;
• the current housing crisis and the significant problem of homelessness;
• groups within society that remain vulnerable to discrimination, such as Indigenous peoples, women and children, people with disability, asylum seekers and gay and lesbian couples;
• violence against women;
• the inadequacy of income and social security supports;
• the regression of workers’ rights;
• the crisis in mental health in Australia and the inadequacy of mental health care;
• the chronic under funding of both public health care and education; and
• the deleterious impacts of Australia’s immigration law and policy on families and children.

In addition to the Reports, the NGO delegation prepared Fact Sheets on Australia’s compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the following key areas:

• Right to an Adequate Standard of Living
• Immigration Law, Policy and Practice
• Protection of Children
• Protection of Families
• Disability and Mental Illness
• Education
• Equality and Non-Discrimination
• Right to Health
• Homelessness
• Indigenous Rights
• Legal Protection of Human Rights
• Treatment of Prisoners and Prison Conditions
• Same-Sex Couples and their Families
• Right to Social Security
• Women’s Rights
• Work Rights

“]

Australian NGO delegation to UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Geneva [L-R: Ben Schokman, Melanie Schleiger, Annie Pettitt and Emily Howie

In May 2009, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights released its report card on Australia’s compliance with the Covenant.  Details of the Committee’s review, including a link to the Committee’s Concluding Observations, are available at http://www.hrlrc.org.au/content/topics/esc-rights/icescr-committee-releases-landmark-report-on-australia-may-2009/.

On 16 and 23 March, the Committee will be briefed by a coalition of leading Australian human rights organisations, including the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, the National Association of Community Legal Centres and Amnesty International.  On 23 and 24 March, the Committee will receive submissions from a high-level delegation from the Australian Government.  It will release its report on Australia on or around 3 April.

The Human Rights Law Resource Centre, together with the National Association of Community Legal Centres and Kingsford Legal Centre, has submitted the following materials to the Human Rights Committee regarding Australia:

• Freedom, Respect, Equality, Dignity: Action – NGO Submission to the Human Rights Committee (September 2008) [PDF] [Word].  This major report was compiled with the assistance of substantial contributions from over 50 NGOs across Australia.  It is endorsed, in whole or in part, by over 200 NGOs.  The Executive Summary of the report has also been translated into French and Spanish.
• Freedom, Respect, Equality, Dignity: Action – Addendum to NGO Submission to the Human Rights Committee (March 2009) [PDF] [Word].  This addendum updates the Committee on major human rights developments between September 2008 and March 2009.

In addition, the coalition has prepared Fact Sheets on Australia’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in the following areas:

• Legal Protection of Human Rights
• Counter-Terrorism Measures 
• People with Disability and Mental Illness 
• Homelessness 
• Immigration Law, Policy and Practice 
• Equality and Non-Discrimination 
• Policing Practices 
• Indigenous Australians 
• Women’s Rights 
• Treatment of Prisoners and Prison Conditions 
• Protection of Children 
• Access to Justice 
• Extra-territorial Application of the Covenant 
• Climate Change and the Environment

The reports and fact sheets provide a comprehensive overview of, and make targeted recommendations regarding, the realisation of civil and political human rights in Australia. 

The report, Freedom, Respect, Equality, Dignity: Action – NGO Submission to the Human Rights Committee [PDF] [Word], was compiled with the assistance of substantial contributions from over 50 NGOs across Australia. It is endorsed, in whole or in part, by over 200 NGOs.  The Executive Summary of the report has also been translated into French and Spanish.

The report aims to provide a comprehensive overview of, and make targeted recommendations regarding, the realisation of civil and political human rights in Australia, including:

• the lack of constitutional or legislative recognition and protection of civil and political rights;
• groups within society that remain vulnerable to discrimination, such as Indigenous peoples, women and children, people with disability, asylum seekers and gay and lesbian couples;
• Australia’s counter terrorism laws and measures;
• Australia’s immigration law, policy and practice; and
• the treatment of people in detention, including prisoners and people in involuntary psychiatric detention.

The report will be considered by the Human Rights Committee in New York in March 2009.

The Human Rights Law Resource Centre prepared a major Report on Australia’s Compliance with the Convention against Torture (April 2008) [Word] [PDF] to assist the Committee to constructively review and make recommendations regarding Australia.

The HRLRC Report considers and makes recommendations regarding the following areas of Australian law, policy and practice which may raise issues of incompatibility with the Convention against Torture:

1. the inadequate protection of human rights, including the prohibition against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, under Australian domestic law;
2. immigration and asylum-seeker law, policy and practice;
3. Australia’s law and policy in relation to refoulement, extradition and expulsion;
4. the impact of the criminal justice system on Indigenous Australians;
5. Australia’s treatment of prisoners and conditions of detention, including in particular the lack of access to adequate health care;
6. Australia’s counter-terrorism law and practice, including in relation to incommunicado detention, and the use of preventative detention and control orders;
7. the use of evidence obtained under torture or pursuant to other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
8. Australia’s failure to investigate and remedy allegations of torture; and
9. Australia’s failure to adequately protect its citizens from the death penalty and other forms of ill-treatment.

The Report makes a range of recommendations to ensure that Australian law, policy and practice in each of these areas is consistent with Australia’s obligations under the Convention.

The HRLRC Report consolidates and updates two previous submissions made jointly by the Human Rights Law Resource Centre and the National Association of Community Legal Centres to the Committee to assist its scrutiny of Australia:

1. HRLRC/NACLC Submission to CAT dated 6 July 2007 [Word] [PDF]
2. HRLRC/NACLC Submission to CAT dated 9 October 2007 [Word] [PDF]

A joint press release regarding these submissions was made on 4 November 2007.

A number of other Australian NGOs have also made submissions:

1. NSW Council for Civil Liberties Shadow Report dated 27 July 2007
2. NSW Council for Civil Liberties Addendum to Shadow Report dated 16 September 2007
3. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Comments dated February 2007 
4. Amnesty International Shadow Report dated November 2007

The Human Rights Law Resource Centre, NACLC, NSW Council for Civil Liberties and Amnesty International have also published a range of thematic Fact Sheets regarding issues relevant to Australia’s implementation of, and compliance with, the Convention:

1. Australia’s Immigration Law, Policy and Practice [Word] [PDF]
2. Australia’s Counter-Terrorism Laws and Measures [Word] [PDF]
3. Australia’s Treatment of Prisoners and Prison Conditions [Word] [PDF]
4. Australia’s Failure to Investigate Torture [Word] [PDF]
5. Australia’s Domestic Implementation of the Convention against Torture [Word] [PDF]
6. Indigenous Australians and the Convention against Torture [Word] [PDF]

The following documents relevant to the review are also available:

1. Third and Fourth Periodic Report of Australia to the Committee Against Torture dated April 2005
2. Committee Against Torture List of Issues for Australia dated 6 June 2007
3. Committee Against Torture Concluding Observations on Australia’s Second Periodic Report dated November 2000

A coalition of human rights organisations and community groups, including the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, have broadly condemned the report, criticising the Howard Government’s failure to address how the rights contained in the treaties are reflected in the actual political, economic, social and cultural realities in Australia. 

The coalition has released a Media Statement and a Human Rights Background Briefing Document.

On the international stage, Australia has committed to respecting and promoting the human rights.  However, the Howard Government’s report reflects an unwillingness to ensure that human rights are respected and protected.

Major omissions from the Australian Government’s report include:

• no acknowledgement that Australia is the only developed nation without a constitutional or legislative entrenchment of human rights in its domestic law;
• insufficient recognition of the significant human rights issues facing Indigenous Australians;
• inadequate discussion of Australia’s mandatory detention of asylum seekers, including the conditions of detention and lack of access to appropriate health care;
• little reference to counter-terrorism laws and measures and the extent to which they compromise some of the long-standing rights protected in the Australian legal system, particularly in light of the recent treatment of Dr Mohamed Haneef;
• no comment on the extended detention of David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib in Guantanamo Bay;
• no observation of the human rights abuses in mental health institutions and covert neglect in the wider community;
• no mention of the Australian Government’s involvement in exposing its citizens to face the death penalty overseas;
• inadequate discussion of the impacts of the recent WorkChoices legislation on Australian workers;
• no exploration of the impact of the harsher penalty regime introduced by the Australian Government in its Welfare to Work legislation, and the effects of the legislation on parents and people with disabilities;
• inadequate discussion of issues affecting housing affordability and availability;
• no discussion of the increased focus on parents rights, to the detriment of the interests of children, which has resulted from the Australian Government’s changes to the family law regime; and
• no mention of the discrimination experienced by same-sex couples in Australia.

It is disappointing that the Australian Government has not used the report as an opportunity to conduct a comprehensive review of the measures it has taken to harmonise Australia’s domestic law and policy with its international obligations.  The report presents an occasion for the Australian Government to monitor progress made in promoting the enjoyment of fundamental human rights in Australia and to plan and develop appropriate policies to fully implement the rights contained in the treaties.  Sadly, the Australian Government has not shown leadership in the development of effective human rights protections in Australia. 

The Human Rights Law Resource Centre, together with a coalition of non-government organisations, will submit a ‘Shadow Report’ in response to the Australian Government’s report to the United Nations treaty bodies later this year.  The shadow report will seek to provide a more accurate and ‘on the ground’ perspective of the actual reality of the situation of human rights in Australia.