The Law Council of Australia has urged the Federal Government to strengthen Australia’s human rights framework after it accepted fewer than half of the recommendations made during the United Nations’ latest review of the country’s human rights record.
Australia this week appeared before the UN Human Rights Council in response to its Fourth Cycle Universal Periodic Review, a process that examines each member state’s compliance with international human rights obligations.
Of the 332 recommendations made by UN member states, the Australian Government accepted 128.
Law Council of Australia President Tania Wolff welcomed the Government’s support for recommendations relating to Closing the Gap, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage, and reducing the overrepresentation of First Nations people in prisons.
However, she said the Law Council was disappointed that the Government had declined to fully accept many other key recommendations.
“We are particularly disappointed that calls from 27 countries to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14 and introduce a federal Human Rights Act were only noted by the Government,” Ms Wolff said.
The Law Council’s submission to the review identified raising the age of criminal responsibility, introducing a national Human Rights Act and addressing the continued overincarceration of First Nations people as priority reforms.
Ms Wolff said Australia’s international human rights obligations applied across all jurisdictions and should not be constrained by the complexities of the federal system.
“The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has also sounded the alarm about the overrepresentation of First Nations children in our criminal justice system,” she said.
“Commitment must now lead to action.”
The Law Council has called on the Australian Government to lead a coordinated national response to implement the recommendations it has accepted through the Universal Periodic Review process.
