Joint Report on behalf of the Australian NGO Coalition
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Joint Report on behalf of the Australian NGO Coalition has been submitted to the UN. The Report, from more than 150 NGOs – including ALHR – shows that human rights are sliding backwards and we are falling far short of meeting our international obligations.
Globally, Australians are amongst the only citizens living in a Western liberal democracy without any comprehensive federal human rights law. For more than 30 years ALHR has been calling for all jurisdictions in Australia to legislate a Human Rights Act. During its first term the Albanese Government established an inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights Framework. In May 2024 that Inquiry delivered very clear recommendations that the Federal Government introduce a Human Rights Act and that states and territories yet to do so, also enact their own Human Rights Acts.
Everyone in Australia deserves to be treated with dignity, equality and respect. Having won a second term – with a clear mandate to stand up against racism and division and to stand for diversity, inclusion and equality – it is now time for the Albanese Government to implement the recommendations of its own Inquiry and enact a Human Rights Act.
ALHR has been proud to be amongst the many organisations who have contributed to the Joint NGO Report on behalf of the Australian NGO Coalition through as lead authors and working group members, Kerry Weste and Dr Tania Penovic. ALHR commends the hard work undertaken by the coordinating committee organisations, the Human Rights Law Centre, Community Legal Centres Australia, Kingsford legal Centre, and the Indigenous People’s Organisation Australia.
The report identifies critical human rights issues where Australia is falling short of its legal obligations and recommends steps Australia must take to improve its human rights record, including:
- An Australian Human Rights Act is the missing piece at the heart of Australia’s laws and policies, which would establish clear minimum human rights protections and mean governments have to consider people’s rights when designing policies and delivering services.
- Ongoing systemic racism against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is a critical human rights failing, with urgent action needed to raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 to stop 10 year old children growing up in jail, fully incorporate the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into Australian laws, establish a Makarrata Commission, and implement self-determined solutions to justice problems.
- Gender-based violence remains a persistent and serious problem, and legal protections must be strengthened for survivors and to stop family violence from happening in the first place.
Read the Report here
Read a joint media release from the Human Rights Law Centre, Change the Record, The Indigenous Peoples’ Organisation Australia, First Nations Advocates Against Family Violence (formerly the NFVPLS Forum) here.