The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Australia’s human rights was adopted on July 1st at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. It’s very regrettable that the Australian Government accepted only 128 recommendations out of 332, which is 39%—the lowest acceptance rate since the UPR began, falling well short of global averages.
The following is the joint statement made by WCC and NCCA at the Human Rights Council presented by Jennifer Philpot-Nissen.
“We speak in solidarity with Australia’s First Nations, many of whom are the furthest behind in Australian society. They face entrenched disadvantage, lower life expectancy, poor health, systemic racism, and are the most incarcerated people in the world. Whilst we welcome the ‘Closing the Gap’ targets, these remain largely unmet. Measures to promote and protect the rights of Australia’s indigenous peoples would have positive effects for all Australians, and a more concerted effort is needed across all of government
In particular, we call for a national Treaty Commission and truth-telling processes to aid healing and reconciliation. Indigenous communities need to be the co-designers of policies and programs that affect them.
In addition, we call for the minimum age of criminal responsibility to be raised from 10 to 14 years, in line with international norms; and greater use of community-based juvenile diversion programmes.
Violence against women remains widespread. It is a shocking statistic that one woman is killed every 11 days. Aboriginal women are disproportionately affected. We thank the States which made recommendations on this, and we call on the Government of Australia to accept and implement these recommendations, and particularly to increase crisis support funding, emergency housing, and financial assistance.
The impacts of climate change are worsening. Aboriginal, Torres Strait and Pacific Islander communities face disproportionate harm, with rising sea levels threatening their homes and livelihoods. We believe that integrating human rights into climate policy will help with emissions reductions and faster transition to renewable energy. We call for a ban on new coal mines and urge the phasing out of existing ones and the transition away from fossil fuels. We thank the Republic of the Marshall Islands for their recommendation on this. We call on the Australian government to strengthen climate finance, particularly for Pacific nations.
Peace underpins all human rights. Nuclear weapons and militarisation threaten all life on Earth. The AUKUS submarine partnership raises grave concerns. Australia needs to be kept nuclear weapons free and to invest in peaceful diplomacy. We call on the Government to accept the recommendation from Kazakhstan and to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as a priority,” said Jennifer.
To view the 26th Meeting – 62nd Session of Human Rights Council | UN Web TV – from beginning – NCCA statement at about 7 minutes in.