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Australia’s Human Rights Record

Protest outside the Northern Territory Tourism office in Sydney against Mandatory Sentencing. 2000

Protest by Aboriginal people in Sydney, 1938

Aboriginal Tent Embassy outside Parliament House, Canberra 1972

Australia has been found guilty by a United Nations body of practising racial discrimination against its own citizens.

Australia has agreed to be bound by all major international human rights Conventions and has taken a high profile on promoting human rights internationally - especially in opposing apartheid in South Africa. But both national and international bodies are now saying that Australia is itself guilty of fundamental human rights breaches in its treatment of its indigenous citizens.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) exists to monitor and end racial discrimination. It considers reports by Governments on racial discrimination in their countries and follows up urgent cases of racial discrimination brought to its notice.

The Committee has recently placed Australia on its agenda of urgent business, mainly because of the Government’s 1998 amendments to the 1993 Native Title Act (see separate information sheet on Native Title).

On 18 March 1999 at its 54th session CERD brought down highly damaging findings against the Australian Government - its first report critical of a Western country. The Committee found that:

• the 1998 Native Title amendments were racially discriminatory, because they put limitations on the rights of indigenous people which did not apply to other citizens
• they did not comply with Australia’s international obligations
• they upset the delicate balance of the 1993 act and created certainty for Federal and State governments and third parties [ie pastoralists and miners] at the expense of indigenous peoples.
  

The Committee pointed out that while the purpose of the 1993 Act was to recognise and protect native title, the 1998 amendments were about extinguishing and reducing indigenous rights and interests. It also noted that Aboriginal people had not been involved in drafting the amendments.

CERD called on Australia to suspend the amendments and enter into full consultations with indigenous people about a way forward.

On 19 August 1999 at its 55th session, after considering the Australian Government’s defence of their actions, CERD reaffirmed its March decision. The Committee expressed ‘serious concern’ that Australia was going backwards as regards indigenous land rights.

Further reading and links:

• For press clippings covering these issues see the press clippings section of the news pages

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• Human Rights in Contemporary Australia
  17 November 2001 - Speech: Dr Sev Ozdowsk - I am delighted to be invited to speak today at the Tasmanian Branch of the United Nations Association of Australia's Human Rights Seminar. Despite its rather grand title, this presentation will be a relatively modest attempt to set out the key challenges for human rights in Australia as I see them at the outset of my term as Human Rights Commissioner. Let us begin with a quick survey of the state of human rights internationally and in Australia today.
  
  
  
• see the international section of links in the information pages of this website.
• United Nations section of ENIAR
  
  
  

info for aborigines on European campaigning. Guide to intergovernmental, Non-Government + Indigenous Support Organisations, based in Europe.

read about:

• Native Title
• Aboriginal History and Heritage
• Aboriginal Identity and Culture
• Reconciliation, Social Justice, the Constitution and a Treaty
• The Stolen Generations

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