What human rights mean to me …
Results of the Bush Talks consultations - 1998 and 1999
Early in 1998 the Human Rights Commissioner commenced what was to be a two year consultation process on human rights concerns in regional, rural and remote Australia. There were several motivations for that commitment including the closure of regional offices of the Commission following a substantial funding cut in 1997 and the need to reach out in another way to Australians living outside the urban centres.
We set three objectives for the consultations:
1. To inform rural
people about human rights.
2. To identify the major human rights concerns for country communities.
3. To identify relevant projects for Commission action.
Mid-way through the consultations we released a summary of key findings to that point. This report, also called simply Bush Talks, summarised the major points under five headings:
1. Providing basic
health services - for elderly people, adolescents and youth, and more
generally.
2. Ensuring fair access to education.
3. Meeting other essential needs - employment, banking, telecommunications,
public transport, housing and water.
4. Valuing children and young people - including young gay people.
5. Building communities - with a place for all including Indigenous people
and people with disabilities.
During the Bush Talks consultations participants described their expectations and values relating to 'human rights'. This paper summarises these.
Physical safety and human dignity
Human rights - if they are to have any meaning at all - must protect human life and dignity. While they extend much further than this, these have to be core concerns. Protecting physical safety means governments have to be active and watchful.
We expect our environment to be safe
"People are entitled to know that they are drinking safe water and that the air that they are breathing is safe. There is a high rate of asthma in this town and it has been on the increase since the incorporation of cotton into this area. The majority of babies are being born with it. Yet there have been no studies or research done on the quality of water or on the increase in asthma in this area" (Brewarrina NSW, March 1999).
We expect respect for human dignity throughout life
In Albany WA we were told that more needs to be done to address the human rights of older people particularly in relation to aged care services. "The problem is not so much lack of services as the attitudes of carers and others who provide the services. They need to be better trained in caring for older people in a way that maintains their dignity."
We expect governments to work towards improving our quality of life
Several participants in Albany WA were critical of economic rationalism, noting that it has had a particularly severe impact on rural communities. "Governments are obsessed with economics. GDP should be about quality of life."
Participation in a democracy
Human rights should guarantee democracy - they must include civil and political rights. Participation in a democracy - the right to have a say in decisions which affect us - is essential not just at the polling booth but in many and various ways. Active participation by everyone is the best way of protecting human rights.
"There's existing in Australia now a generation that knows nothing else except welfare subsistence. Maybe our country is in danger of moving towards the creation of an underclass of people who will always be locked out of participating in society and will always need to be dependent on the community completely. That to me is a violation of human rights" (Bendigo Victoria, November 1998).
We expect genuine representative democracy
"One of the major problems is the lack of recognition of the status of local government within our current constitution. Local government could very easily be lost. It should be allowed to be a much more effective advocate for the local community and its needs" (Ballarat Victoria, November 1998).
"Rural areas are treated like distant colonies. We are handed decisions and told that they will be good for us" (Scone NSW, November 1998).
We expect an opportunity to be heard and listened to
"We are not hearing women's voices in the community enough." "We don't have any vehicle in Bendigo to hear about women's issues either radio or television." "We feel that women are ten years away from having a voice on radio" (Bendigo Victoria, November 1998).
"The children were asked their opinion about where they wanted to live, but this doesn't seem to have had any impact on where they have been placed. The children are learning not to trust the adults around them" (Bendigo Victoria, November 1998).
We need to be educated about our rights
"Governments need to be more proactive in supporting education for people about their rights and responsibilities under the law and the constitution, particularly for people in rural areas. Awareness of their rights is essential if they are to effectively promote greater respect for those rights by governments and the wider community" (Albany WA, August 1998).
"We need to educate the community about our rights. We don't have a strong heritage of rights. We have to get over the problem of people being afraid to assert their rights" (Rockhampton Qld, August 1998).
Providing basic services
Another major feature of the consultations was the understanding that without a minimum quality of life there's no point talking about democracy, equality or human rights. Governments ultimately have to ensure that basic services are provided and that service providers are accountable to the public.
We expect basic needs to be met
In Alice Springs NT participants noted their relative lack of services with one person commenting, "People here are deprived of the level of services that all Australians should have access to, in terms of human rights in this country."
"The lack of police leaves people insecure, especially old people. The police station has been downgraded so that it only operates during the daytime. Calls are transferred to Muswellbrook after hours. There should be a police station open all of the time in our town" (Scone NSW, November 1998).
We expect services to include everyone - even taking extra steps to ensure services are accessible to the disadvantaged
"Bank charges are having a serious effect on elderly people. They have to pay more for counter service but they find it difficult to use ATMs. They cannot remember their PINs and so write them down, exposing them to the risk of crime. Charges remove choices" (Country Women's Association representative, Bathurst NSW, July 1998).
"Quadriplegics experience a lot of discrimination, direct and indirect. For example, they get charged fees for over-the-counter bank transactions because they cannot use (inaccessible) ATMs" (Orange NSW, July 1998).
Laws should be fair
Participants expected governments and bureaucrats to apply some basic standards of fairness. These standards are familiar to Australians and there was a strong identification of human rights as backing up national values.
We expect to be governed by laws which are consistent with each other
"About eighteen months ago I was doing 17 hours a week study and I was trying to get on Austudy. Austudy told me that I didn't have enough hours to get Austudy, and sent me to Social Security, and there they told me that I had too many hours of study to get unemployment [benefit]" (Bendigo Victoria, November 1998).
"When is a child an adult? You can vote when you are 18, you can't receive Austudy until you are 25, you pay full price on buses when you are 16, and pay full price at the movies when you are 15. In the criminal justice system you receive the full force of the adult law when you are 17" (Mackay Qld, August 1998).
We expect officials not to abuse their positions of power
"Late at night, riding around with my brother, the police pulled us over. They searched me and I had nothing on me. I had the good police officer but my brother was over the other side and the police officer was belting him. The police officer who was talking to me went over there to stop it but he sent the other police officer over to me" (Bendigo Victoria, November 1998).
We expect governments to avoid knee-jerk solutions
"Mandatory sentencing for property offences in the Northern Territory precludes courts from examining the individual circumstances of a matter, and even petty offences can lead to the imprisonment of children. Locking up and containing young people does nothing to reduce crime and does nothing to rehabilitate young people" (Alice Springs, October 1998).
"There are a lot of reasons why kids are on the streets. There is a high incidence of sexual abuse in the town. There are not enough services for kids. There is nowhere to take them to. There is an alcohol problem. At the moment I feel that the community is focussing on law and order rather than providing intervention programs and safe houses for the kids that will probably fix up the kids in the long run. The answer is not sending our kids to juvenile detention centres and jails" (Brewarrina NSW, March 1999).
Flexibility for true equality
Another theme was the recognition that different realities require different responses so that everyone can enjoy equality of opportunity - equality in fact. Treating everyone the same when they are quite differently situated is simply setting up some people for failure. Human rights should aim to eliminate discrimination.
A youth worker in Albany WA told us that the rules relating to the new Youth Allowance are very inflexible and create special difficulties for young people in rural and remote areas. "Under the case management system, recipients are usually required to attend a meeting with their case manager every day for 10 weeks. However, if they live 35km out of town and don't have a car attending meetings regularly and on time is very difficult. This puts them at risk of non-compliance and cancellation of their benefit. Those who are fortunate enough to have a car have to spend a lot of money on petrol and maintenance. This eats substantially into their benefit as petrol is very expensive in country areas."
We expect everyone to have the chance to participate
An advocate for people with disabilities expressed concern about their access to the labour market. He said recent changes to the industrial relations system, including streamlining of awards, has resulted in people with disabilities losing many of the benefits and protections they enjoyed under the previous system. He argued that the new system of workplace agreements has been slow in adapting to the needs of people with disabilities, especially in Western Australia (Bunbury WA, August 1998).
We expect to be free from discrimination
"I've had experience with young people who have decided to live together in a home but who can't find a landlord or a real estate agent that will give them a look at a house, even a dump, because they are young people" (Bendigo Victoria, November 1998).
Sharing responsibility
The last point to make - and it's an important one to remember - is that a lot of country communities are taking up the slack and starting to resolve their own concerns. We noticed this particularly in the health area: some of the inspiring projects are described on the Healthy Community Projects website. There is a sense that communities and individuals all share responsibility with governments for social justice and human rights.
"Probably the
reason that there's no-one here from the granny patrol is that they are
all out doing a job that they voluntarily do at this stage. A group of
women, Aboriginal women, have got together and have got the use of a bus
and are going around through the streets of an evening and picking up
kids on the streets and taking them home. It seems to have had quite a
good impact. The kids will confide in them a bit. These kids don't necessarily
have people to talk to at home, quite possibly one or both parents are
at the pub. It seems to have had an impact on the petty crime that is
happening around the streets" (Brewarrina NSW, March 1999).
