Australia has been urged to make sweeping reforms to keep Indigenous children out of prison and treat asylum seekers more humanely, after a United Nations review found it was “out of step” with international standards. Source: The Australian.
The assessment, called the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), was conducted by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The UPR is a peer-review process that occurs every five years, in which UN members assess each state’s human rights performance and make recommendations for reform.
This year, Australia was assessed by more than 120 countries who made 350 recommendations on “serious and persistent” gaps in human rights legal protections, particularly on the treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Countries urged Australia to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility, which critics have accused of causing a cycle of imprisonment and reoffending, particularly among Indigenous children who are largely over-represented in the criminal justice system.
Australian Human Rights Commission President Hugh de Kretser, who was present in Geneva for the review, said the assessment “highlighted many areas where we can and must do better”.
“The strongest concerns raised by countries went to the rights of First Peoples, particularly around inequality, racial discrimination and justice outcomes,” he said.
“In particular many countries called on Australia to raise the age of criminal responsibility.”
Countries also recommended Australia legislate a statutory Human Rights Act, which Mr de Kretser described as “long overdue”.
“A Human Rights Act would require our national government to protect people’s rights,” he said.
“It would prevent human rights violations and give people the power to take action if their rights are breached … a Human Rights Act is a missing part of our democracy.”
Concerns were also flagged about Australia’s treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, which has previously been criticised by human rights organisations and the UN.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said the Albanese government took its obligations under international human rights law “very seriously”.
“The Government is committed to improving youth justice outcomes, particularly through reducing rates of incarceration for First Nations youth in line with Target 11 of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap,” the spokesperson said
The spokesperson said the Government had no plans to introduce a federal Human Rights Act.
FULL STORY
Major UN review urges Australia to legislate human rights reform (By Ria Pandey, The Australian)
