Major UN human rights review highlights need for Australia to raise the age of criminal responsibility
Australia’s human rights performance was in the spotlight tonight as the Australian Government appeared before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva for its major human rights review that happens every four to five years.
At the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), UN member countries questioned Australia about its human rights record and recommended improvements. 122 countries made close to 250 recommendations. Key issues of concern included the very low age of criminal responsibility in Australia and the Australian Government’s treatment of refugees and people seeking asylum. The need for greater action on climate change to protect human rights also featured in the review.
The Human Rights Law Centre, Kingsford Legal Centre and Caxton Legal Centre coordinated an NGO coalition which prepared a detailed report to inform the review and briefed UN member states ahead of tonight’s appearance. The NGO report was endorsed by over 200 Australian NGOs.
Hugh de Kretser, Executive Director, Human Rights Law Centre:
“At this major review, 122 countries highlighted the need for Australia to better protect people’s rights. The fact that children as young as 10 are being locked up in jails across the country is clearly an issue of significant international concern, as is the ongoing mandatory indefinite detention and offshore processing of people seeking asylum.
“Australia’s very low age of criminal responsibility is out of step with international standards. 31 countries recommended that Australia raise the age. All Australian governments must heed this call and follow the ACT Government’s lead by committing to raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14.
“The review recognised important progress on marriage equality, addressing modern slavery and Australia’s ratification of the torture prevention treaty, as well as the effectiveness of Australia’s public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But Australia’s record continued to be plagued by human rights failures, and particularly by its treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
“As a wealthy, stable democracy, Australia should be leading the world on human rights, yet too often Australian governments breach people’s rights in critical areas. The Australian Government needs to comprehensively protect human rights in an Australian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Our lives are better and our communities are stronger and healthier when governments promote human rights.”
Priscilla Atkins, Co-chair, NATSILS:
“It is embarrassing for Australia that five years since the last Universal Periodic Review, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people remain the most incarcerated people on earth. With over 441 Aboriginal deaths in custody since 1991, the death penalty has never ended for our people. The Universal Periodic Review is a critical opportunity for the Australian Government to reimagine the justice system and commit to ending the over-incarceration and deaths in custody of our people, including raising the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 and implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, 30 years on from it being handed down. The world is watching.”
Cathy Eatock, Co-Chair of the Indigenous Peoples’ Organisation-Australia (IPO), a coalition of 285 Aboriginal and Torres Strait organisations and individuals, who contributed Indigenous content to the NGO report:
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ issues were a major focus in Australia’s review, reflecting our over-representation across all negative social indicators, In particular, the Morrison Government must realise our right to self-determination. There must be an elected Indigenous representative body to provide a voice on legislation and policies that impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, with all positions elected by and accountable to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. There must be a Makarrata Commission, to establish a truth telling and treaty process, which is crucial to move Australia to a post conflict process of decolonization.”
Edwina MacDonald, Acting CEO, Australian Council of Social Service:
ON CLIMATE: “The Australian Government’s weak emission reduction targets, its lack of a transition plan for people on low-incomes, affected workers and communities; and the dismissal of views of groups most impacted are contrary to its obligations to protect and promote human rights.
“The Government must immediately increase its weak emission reduction targets, including committing to net zero before 2050, accelerate the phase out of fossil fuels like coal and gas, and develop equitable and inclusive transition and resilience plans with communities.”
ON INCOME SUPPORT: “The Australian Government is undoing the good work it did last year to tackle poverty when it doubled income support payments in response to COVID-19. After 25 years without a real increase to income support payments, people without paid work were finally able to put food on the table and keep a roof over their head.
“With the COVID-19 support payments now being cut back, people are once again struggling to cover basic costs and we are seeing the gains made on poverty reduction last year slip away. To ensure our human rights obligations are met, we must permanently increase unemployment and other income support payments, index them to wages, and abolish paternalistic policies like cashless debit so people can rebuild their lives.”
Theresa Sands, Disabled People’s Organisations Australia:
“Very little progress has been made by Australia to implement the 2011 and 2015 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations for people with disability. This means that people with disability in Australia continue to be subjected to law, policy and practice that denies or limits our human rights, and in many cases condones harmful practices.
“We want to see urgent action to establish a national Supported Decision-Making Framework; to end all forms of segregation; to prohibit forced sterilisation and forced medical interventions; to end indefinite detention for unconvicted people with disability; and to eliminate chemical and physical restraints, seclusion and other restrictive practices in all settings.”
Paul Power, CEO, Refugee Council of Australia:
“Australia enters 2021 with a worse track record on upholding the rights of refugees and people seeking asylum than in 2015, when we last appeared before the UN Human Rights Council for a major review of our human rights record. The average length of immigration detention is at record high, hundreds of people subject to offshore processing remain in limbo after eight years and, during one of the worst economic crises of our lives, people seeking asylum have been left behind by the Australian Government. If we do not urgently review our mandatory and indefinite detention policies, end offshore processing and provide a basic safety net for people seeking asylum in the community, we will further erode Australia’s capacity to advocate for other nations to respect human rights and the rule of law.”
Bill Mitchell OAM, Principal Solicitor, Townsville Community Law:
“Older Australians have been living in a human rights vacuum, where our domestic laws fail to provide them with enforceable human rights in their daily lives including their care. Additionally, Australia’s international engagement on the human rights of older persons has been lacklustre. The time has come to support the call for an International Convention on the Rights of Older Persons.”
Nolan Hunter, Indigenous Rights Lead, Amnesty International Australia:
“Australia locks up vulnerable children as young as 10, taking away childhoods and causing them serious harm at a crucial time of development, when they are being shaped into the adults they will become. The UN has benchmarked 14 as the absolute minimum age of criminal responsibility. Experts in child development and health from around the world agree that we must act on this now.
"State and Territory governments have the opportunity to make this powerful legislative reform right now - the ACT Government has recently committed to it as a priority. Raising the age will go a long way to improving Australia's record on its treatment of First Nations people as well as driving down over representation of Indigenous people in our jails, which is the highest in the world.”
Ghassan Kassisieh, Legal Director, Equality Australia:
“While Australia has received praise for implementing the previous country recommendations on marriage equality, it’s time to focus on other areas where Australia falls short of ensuring all Australians are free and equal, no matter who they are or whom they love.
“LGBTQ+ people continue to experience discrimination and conversion practices aimed at ‘curing’ them, trans Australians still face barriers to accessing gender-affirming healthcare and being recognised as who they are, and intersex Australians still experience medical interventions on their bodies without consent. These are some of the key LGBTIQ+ human rights issues on which Australia is likely to face international scrutiny.”
Tina Dixson, Acting Program Manager, Australian Women Against Violence Alliance:
“Australia is rightly proud that it broke new ground by implementing the first National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and Their Children in 2010. However, there has been no appreciable drop in the levels of gendered violence in Australia. With increased visibility and reporting of violence, Australia must learn from the experience of the 2010 Plan and ensure that the second National Plan includes adequate funding for specialist women’s services, specific measures to address violence against women of diverse experiences, and a monitoring and evaluation system for all action plans. It’s also essential that there is a specific focus on violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls.”
Nassim Arrage, CEO, CLCs Australia:
“All the members of the UPR NGO Coalition are seeking to improve Australia’s human rights record. We need the Australian government to be more willing to create democratic and open spaces where civil society and human rights defenders can collaborate and be consulted. We welcome any opportunity to contribute to the development of a framework that will implement the recommendations of the UPR process and result in improved access to justice and the elimination of all forms of discrimination.”
Simon Henderson, Head of Policy, Save the Children Australia:
“Australia ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child more than 30 years ago, but we still have no coherent or overarching strategy, plan or framework for protecting children’s rights. Substantial gaps in Australian laws remain, contributing to significant ongoing rights violations towards children. Australia must fully incorporate the Convention into domestic legislation and policy, and develop a National Plan for Children to comprehensively protect children’s rights.”
The review took place in Geneva on Wednesday 20 January 2021 7-10pm AEDT. A recording of the review can be found here.
The NGO Report was coordinated by the Human Rights Law Centre, the Kingsford Legal Centre and the Caxton Legal Centre, working with an Advisory Group comprised of 16 NGOs, and authors from 57 NGOs. Over 200 Australian NGOs have endorsed the report. A copy of the Joint NGO Report can be found here.
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