Universal Periodic Review 2020-21 - Factsheets
COVID-19 and human rights
The UPR NGO Coalition Report was finalised in April 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was taking hold in Australia. As a result, the Report was unable to address the impact that COVID-19 would have on human rights in Australia. Instead, Annexure C of the Report identified emerging areas of human rights concern with the Australian Government’s response to COVID-19.
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Peoples
Of the 289 UPR recommendations to Australia in 2015, 61 directly applied to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and a further 133 addressed areas of high relevance.
Constitutional, legislative and institutional framework
In 2015, Australia received recommendations to strengthen its constitutional, legal and institutional protection of human rights, including by recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Australian Constitution, and enacting an Australian Charter of Human Rights. Australia has not implemented either recommendation, and there are concerns around Australia’s implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT).
Access to justice and the criminal justice system
The right to equal, fair, transparent, effective, non-discriminatory and accountable services that provide justice for all cannot be achieved without systemic reforms and funding directed at addressing the disadvantage faced by particular groups such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, children, and people with disabilities in interacting with the justice system and accessing legal services.
Climate change
The climate crisis directly and indirectly threatens the human rights of people -including the rights to health, water, food, housing, self-determination, and life itself. It disproportionately affects persons experiencing disadvantage and threatens intergenerational equity.
Policing and human rights
The legitimacy of the police stems from the trust of the community as an entirety. When that trust is compromised, vulnerable groups may turn away from police. The over-criminalisation of minority and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, continued Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in custody, failures in protecting victims of domestic violence and reduced government support for external investigation bodies have weakened the efficacy of police in communities across the country.
Children’s rights
In Australia’s 2nd Cycle UPR, there were over 50 recommendations directed at children’s rights or matters that particularly affect children. Concluding Observations from the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC Committee) and reports by other UN committees and special rapporteurs continue to highlight significant concerns.
Business and human rights
The activities of some Australian companies continue to have significant adverse human rights impacts within Australia and abroad. Of particular concern are corporate contributions to the climate crisis, attacks on civic space, destruction of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage sites, labour and other human rights violations in corporate supply chains, impacts on public health and abuses associated with the extractives, financial and immigration detention sectors.
Democratic rights and freedoms
Australia has slipped across many metrics of good governance and open democracy over the past five years. From weakening Freedom of Information laws to criminalising peaceful protest and defunding charities that advocate for marginalised communities, the threats to Australia’s democracy are wide-ranging and serious.
Gender and human rights in Australia
Despite the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has hit women in Australia hard, there is still no national gender equality policy framework. High rates of violence against women and girls remain endemic in Australia. And although nearly 70% of matters in the family courts involve allegations of DFV, the family law system has not prioritised safety and risk in its practice and decision-making.
Health
All Australian citizens and residents should have access to culturally appropriate and safe health services, when and where they need them, without suffering financial hardship. The COVID-19 pandemic and recent bushfires, unprecedented in severity, have further highlighted existing health inequities in Australia.
Prisons
Australian governments recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are over-imprisoned compared to the non-Indigenous population, and have launched numerous inquiries into the causes and effects of this issue.
Sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics
Since 2016, the nine federal, state and territory governments of Australia have made significant progress in recognising and protecting the human rights of people regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or variations in sex characteristics (SOGIESC).
Refugees and asylum seekers
Since late 2013, Australia has persistently undermined the institution of asylum by intercepting people seeking asylum at sea and implementing rapid returns, with rudimentary screening and without access to legal advice or fair process. Australia has also returned people at airports without properly assessing their claims.
Housing and homelessness
Australian house and rent prices are among the highest in the world relative to income, yet the stock of social and affordable housing is comparatively low and declining. Many people are unable to realise their right to safe, secure and affordable housing due to these factors.
Older People
Older Australians face a range of significant challenges to their human rights. These include their general invisibility in the global human rights reporting processes, their rights to life, equality and non-discrimination in many areas of life including health, care, social protections and adequate standards of living including housing. The impact of ageism on participation in the community including in work remains concerning.
Poverty
Although Australia is comparatively wealthy, poverty remains at unacceptable levels. Most people experiencing poverty rely on social security payments. While the Australian Government has provided temporary increases to income support as part of its response to COVID-19, these are due to expire by the start of 2021. As such, payments to people who are unemployed or studying will continue to fall well below the poverty line. Financial assistance for single parent families is also inadequate to protect children from poverty.
Trafficking
Australia has strengthened its commitment to addressing human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like practices. However, significant deficits remain in upholding the human rights of all victim/survivors in Australia.
People with Disability
Australia has taken some positive steps to give effect to the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, including implementing the National Disability Insurance Scheme in 2013 and establishing the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Exploitation and Neglect of People with Disability in 2019. However, the Convention has not been fully incorporated into domestic law and further reforms are necessary to adequately promote its purpose.