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Human rights in Australia have largely been developed by the democratically elected Australian Parliament through laws in specific contexts (rather than a stand-alone, abstract bill of rights) and safeguarded by such institutions as the independent judiciary and the High Court, which implement common law, the Australian Constitution, and various other laws of Australia and its states and territories. Australia also has an independent statutory human rights body, the Australian Human Rights Commission, which investigates and conciliates complaints, and more generally promotes human rights through education, discussion and reporting.
Universal voting rights and rights to freedom of association, freedom of, and from, religion and freedom from discrimination are protected in Australia. The Australian colonies were among the first political entities in the world to grant universal manhood suffrage (1850s) and female suffrage (1890s). Ever since the gradual dismantling of the White Australia policy throughout the late 20th century, contemporary Australia is a liberal democracy and heir to a large post-World War II multicultural program of immigration in which forms of racial discrimination have been prohibited since 1975.
As a founding member of the United Nations, Australia has assisted in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and it is signatory to various other international treaties on the subject of human rights. However, Australia is the only democratic country in the world without a national bill of rights of some kind.[1] Racism in Australia traces both historical and contemporary racist community attitudes, as well as political non-compliance and alleged governmental negligence on United Nations human rights standard[2] and incidents in Australia.
Ongoing human rights issues in Australia largely stems from the legacy of mistreatment of Indigenous Australians, who are disproportionately of disadvantaged socioeconomic standing, have shorter life spans, and make up a disproportionately high number of imprisoned persons, thus receiving disproportionately high levels of social welfare payment as well as preferential employment and tertiary educational placement in state sectors. De jure, these rights are protected by the Australian Constitution and the constitutions of the states and territories bodies created to advance the promotion and protection of Human Rights Commission, in addition to a number of federal laws that exist to protect people from discrimination and nature breaches to human rights. The usage of immigration detention facilities remains a contentious issue especially among critics and human rights groups. In 2017, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has cited these facilities as a "damning indictment of a policy meant to avoid Australia's international human rights obligations".[3]
- ^ Williams, G. (2006). "The Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities: Origins and Scope". Melbourne University Law Review. 30 (3): 880. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
- ^ "OHCHR – Australia Homepage". www.ohchr.org. Archived from the original on 6 September 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
- ^ Davidson, Helen (21 November 2017). "Manus humanitarian crisis a 'damning indictment' of Australia's refugee policy: UNHCR". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2022.