Australia's Universal Periodic Review on human rights
Australia appeared before the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on 27 January 2011.
The Universal Periodic Review is a new process undertaken by the United Nations Human Rights Council. It involves review of the human rights records of all 192 Member States once every four years. The ultimate aim of the Review is to improve the human rights situation in all countries and address human rights violations wherever they occur.
The UPR provides two major opportunities for Australia:
- It allows the Australian community and Government to take stock of how well we are protecting the human rights of all people in Australia; and
- It permits the Australian Government to inform the international community of the human rights situation in Australia and to engage with other countries about specified steps it will take to improve the enjoyment of human rights in Australia.
At Australia’s first UPR appearance, 53 countries asked questions of Australia in regard to its human rights record and made 145 recommendations. These covered a wide range of human rights issues including the treatment of asylum seekers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, multiculturalism and racism, and the status of Australia’s obligations under international human rights law.
In the 11 months since its UPR appearance, Australia has made some progress towards implementing the recommendations that it accepted. The draft National Action Plan on Human Rights, released in December 2011, provides an overview of this progress. The draft is available here: http://www.ag.gov.au/nhrap.
In some areas, much work remains to be done. The Commission has continued to express concern, for example, in relation to the ongoing system of mandatory immigration detention. The Commission was disappointed that the Government chose to reject certain key recommendations urging it to overturn Australia’s mandatory system of immigration detention – as well as others relating to the introduction of a Human Rights Act, compensation for members of the Stolen Generations and recognition of same-sex marriage.
The report of Australia’s UPR appearance is available here: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/PAGES/AUSession10.aspx
The Government’s response to the recommendations contained in the report is here: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/PAGES/AUSession10.aspx
The Commission’s statement on the Government response and report is available here.
Annual progress report
The First Progress Report from the Australian Council of Human Rights Agencies (ACHRA), comprised of the Australian Human Rights Commission and its sister bodies at the state and territory level, is available here.
This report takes the outcomes of Australia’s UPR appearance as the starting point in assessing progress across the country in respecting and protecting human rights.
It is intended to be the first in a series of annual progress reports by
ACHRA in the lead up to Australia’s second UPR appearance, scheduled for
2015.
ACHRA hopes that this annual statement will contribute to the National
Action Plan being a vibrant, living document over the next four years. It will
celebrate advances in human rights protection, while also acknowledging those
areas of emerging or ongoing concern.
As an ‘A status’
national human rights institution, the Australian Human Rights Commission has
lodged this statement with the upcoming 19th session UN Human Rights Council. It
will continue to do with each year’s report as part of its ongoing
monitoring of Australia’s UPR implementation.
Other materials
The Commission has also prepared a series of Questions and Answers about Australia's participation in the UPR process. This includes:
- the process for the Universal Periodic Review
- timeline for Australia's appearance
Click here for the UPR Questions and Answers
The Commission made a submission to the UN Human Rights Council for Australia's UPR appearance:
Click here for the UPR Submission
All resources relating to Australia’s UPR appearance are available on the following UN website: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/PAGES/AUSession10.aspx
