PRIORITIES
- WEL endorses the Australian Human Rights Commission’s proposed Free and Equal framework for a Human Rights Act in Australia, including its draft Human Rights Act.
- To strengthen protection of the rights of women and girls, the first Australian Human Rights Act must include the following as a minimum standard:
- labour rights, including rights to fair wages, a decent living and equal remuneration for work of equal value
- all rights contained within the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- the right to a clean and healthy environment
- the right to enjoy the highest possible standard of physical and mental health with a clear articulation that this right - extends to sexual and reproductive health and rights
the right to education, with a clear articulation that this right includes comprehensive sexuality education; and
- a clear direction that all rights under the act must be interpreted with reference to the various international conventions and covenants ratified by Australia.
RATIONALE
Australia is a diverse country. More than 48% of our population has at least one parent born overseas. The accelerating pace of technological change has widened traditional intergenerational divides. Our suburbs and towns are sharply divided along socioeconomic fault lines. The experience of living in an Australia city is very different to the experience of living in rural or remote Australia.
In the face of such diversity, it can be difficult to have constructive conversations about change and the needs of different people. To achieve gender equality and promote the well-being of women and girls in Australia, we need a common language and a common set of standards on which to base political and community discussion.
This common structure already exists – we call them human rights. The modern global system of human rights was first established following the end of World War Two and has been refined, explained and developed ever since. Using human rights as the basis for discussions about power, decision-making and the distribution of resources makes sense because it allows us to have conversations about change on a level playing field where the rules are already clearly understood.
Although Australia is known across the world as a strong supporter of human rights, we don’t have a national Human Rights Act. This sets us apart from most other developed democracies – Canada, New Zealand, USA, UK and the EU all have well developed local human rights acts and supporting infrastructure such as education programs. While some states have enacted their own human rights laws, coverage across Australia is variable and non-existent for many.
This lack of national leadership on human rights has real consequences in our daily lives. Human rights may be largely ignored when governments develop policy and make decisions about funding or priorities. The lack of a right to housing in Australia has resulted in tax and policy settings which prioritise housing as an investment option, rather than as a human right. The Robodebt scandal and other problems arising from the ‘mutual obligation’ approach to social security could have been avoided if the right to social security was recognised in Australia. The debate about Australia’s response to climate change could have looked very different if it had been grounded in the right to a clean and healthy environment. When human rights are ignored, the negative effects are always felt first by those who are marginalised.
Recently we have seen open attempts in Australia to limit access to abortion, supplemented by clandestinely imposed limitations on reproductive rights for certain populations, such as surgical abortions being banned in some public hospitals. The right to conscientious objection is sometimes invoked to override a women’s right to access health professionals for reproductive healthcare, including abortion.
The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has proposed a new human rights framework for Australia called Free and Equal. The AHRC is calling for a national human rights act (HRA), a new education framework and a range of measures for monitoring how well we are doing at implementing the rights in the seven human rights treaties ratified by Australia and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, listed as follows:
- Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment (CAT)
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
- Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
- Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities (CRPD)
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
- United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)
WEL endorses the AHRC’s proposed Free and Equal framework, including the draft Human Rights Act.
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