Australia's Universal Periodic Review 2014 Progress Report

1Introduction

2This 2014 UPR Progress Report is the fourth in a series of annual reports developed in the lead up to Australia’s Second Cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council.¹ The second cycle review is tentatively scheduled for 9 November 2015.²

3The reports are lodged with the Human Rights Council annually to provide accountability for Australia’s progress under the UPR.

What is the Universal Periodic Review? 4The UPR is a unique process which involves a review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States once every four years. It is a Member State-driven process, under the auspices of the Human Rights Council. As it is a peer review process, recommendations are made by other governments rather than by independent experts. The UPR is designed to ensure equal treatment for every country when their human rights situations are assessed. 5The UPR was created through the UN General Assembly on 15 March 2006. The first cycle reviews of all Member States were completed by October 2011. The second cycle of reviews commenced in 2012 and are due to be completed by 2016. 6The first cycle review of Australia was conducted in 2011. 52 countries asked questions about Australia’s human rights record and made 145 recommendations. The Australian Government accepted in full or in part over 90 per cent of these and also made a number of voluntary commitments to actions.

7The 2014 report has been prepared by the Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) on behalf of the Australian Council of Human Rights Authorities (ACHRA), a body that brings together all Commonwealth, State and Territory anti-discrimination and human rights bodies.

8Over the last 12 months there have been some positive developments in the protection and promotion of human rights in Australia. ACHRA welcomes the following achievements:

The continued roll out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme

The appointment of a Human Rights Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission

The robust human rights analysis of proposed legislation by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights

Launch of Australia's National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking and Slavery 2015–19.

9Despite these positive developments, ACHRA is concerned that there has been limited action taken to advance human rights across a range of subject areas. Many actions committed to through the UPR process, and reflected in Australia’s National Action Plan on Human Rights, have not been implemented or advanced over the past year.

Implementation of UPR recommendations 10This report contains a table listing the 145 recommendations made to Australia in the first round of the UPR. It indicates which recommendations have been: Implemented Partly implemented Not implemented Not supported at the time of the UPR review. The information in the table reveals that at the present time only 11 per cent of recommendations that Australia accepted (in whole or in part) have been fully implemented since 2012.

11ACHRA is concerned at regressions in human rights protection in relation to asylum seekers. Of particular concern is the lengthy detention of asylum seekers, including children, through: Australia’s mandatory immigration detention system; the use of third country processing; and the removal of direct references to Australia’s non-refoulement obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees from the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). Bills still before Parliament also raise significant concerns about human rights protection, such as amendments to the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth),³ and confirm that refugee law and asylum seeker policy remains one of Australia’s biggest human rights challenges.

12ACHRA continues to be concerned at the lack of progress towards ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT), as well as lack of progress in advancing commitments made in the UPR process to review reservations to treaties.

13This report is organised in accordance with the thematic groupings and headings that are used in the UPR reporting process.

14Background and framework for promotion and protection of human rights

14.1Scope of international obligations

15Australia prides itself on its commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights and has announced its candidacy for election to the Human Rights Council for the 2018–20 term.⁴ The Australian Government considers that the promotion and protection of human rights is crucial to achieving peace, security, freedom and dignity for all.⁵

16The Australian Government made several voluntary commitments at the UPR first cycle review.⁶ ACHRA acknowledges the fulfilment of the commitment to appoint a full time Race Discrimination Commissioner. However, ACHRA is disappointed that there continues to be limited action taken to implement other commitments such as the proposed review of Australia’s reservations to human rights treaties and the tabling in Parliament of concluding observations from treaty bodies.

17During the UPR Review, several countries encouraged the Australian Government to ratify the OPCAT.⁷ Australia signed the OPCAT on 19 May 2009, but has not yet ratified it. It is practice in Australia that new treaty obligations are not entered into prior to a National Interest Analysis being conducted and reviewed by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) of the federal Parliament. In 2012, the JSCOT recommended that the government ratify the OPCAT. However, there has been limited progress towards this since 2012:

Section 14(1)(e) of the Human Rights Commission Act 2005 (ACT) in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) provides the ACT Human Rights Commission with powers of inspection and own-motion reviews.⁸ These powers have been used to develop reports on conditions of detention and health provision to detainees in the ACT.

The Northern Territory (NT) Government introduced the Monitoring of Places of Detention (Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture) (National Uniform Legislation) Bill 2013 to Parliament on 22 August 2013. However the Bill has not been enacted to date.

The Australian Government released the country’s third National Human Rights Action Plan (NAP) on 10 December 2012. The NAP indicates that the federal government would work with states and territories to move towards ratifying the OPCAT. This commitment was also made at the first review of Australia at the Human Rights Council’s UPR in 2011.

ACHRA is unaware of any action having been taken by the Standing Council on Law and Justice regarding efforts to encourage ratification of the OPCAT or the development of a National Preventive Mechanism since the above commitments were made.

18The Commission has called for the Australian Government to expedite ratification of the OPCAT on a number of occasions, most recently in the Commission’s Submission to the UN Committee Against Torture.⁹

19In 2014, a series of reforms to strengthen the UN treaty body system have been implemented by the UN. The reforms were prompted by a report from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (Navanethem Pillay 2008–2014),¹⁰ and are set out in UN General Assembly (GA) Resolution Number 68/268.¹¹ ACHRA encourages the government to adopt the state relevant processes set out in the UNGA resolution.

20ACHRA welcomes the Australian Government’s ongoing assistance to representatives of people with disabilities to participate in key international forums on human rights. This assistance has enabled the capacity building of more than 30 participants (including six young emerging leaders) from more than 10 disability peak organisations and disability advocacy organisations to attend and participate in international events related to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

21ACHRA is nevertheless disappointed that the Australian Government has taken no action to consider or review its position on the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and on the International Labour Organisation Convention concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries.