The Australian Human Rights Commission
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In this paper, I will reflect on the purpose of the Australian Human Rights Commission and how if it works in favor or against the Australian citizens. After reviewing the structure and workings of the AHRC, I will provide recommendations based on my understandings about the institution. With the help of the literature research, I will reflect on this topic. I have chosen the Australian Human Rights Commission because as a student it interests me to study and research on how the rights of the Australian population are being protected. The protection and respect for human rights is important for development and sustainability (Gunduz 2004). Australia is involved in seven major human rights treaties[1] to meets its obligations on the international human rights laws but federally the Australian Human Rights Commission operates to meet the human rights obligations (VEOHRC n.d). ‘The Commission is responsible for monitoring Australia’s compliance with its international human rights obligations’ (Triggs 2013).
The Australian Human Rights Commission(AHRC) plays a crucial role in managing the culturally diverse population of Australia by focusing on providing leadership in human rights issues in the country, educating the diverse population and engaging it to create a stronger human rights culture in the country (AHRC 2009). It was formed in 1986 and given statutory responsibilities under three federal laws: Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (the RDA), the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (the SDA) and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986, with each category appointed with a full time commissioner. After its formation, the AHRC gradually achieved several milestones with the structure inclusive of a president, under whom there are commissioners for indigenous people, age discrimination, children, disability discrimination, human rights, race discrimination and sex discrimination (AHRC 2018). Then there is a chief executive who is accountable to the president and there are officers who are appointed to cater to the policy and programs, communications, legalities, finances, HR, IT and investigation and conciliation services (AHRC 2018). Along with the accomplishments of the AHRC, the main objectives were to empower the people to value human rights, understand and exercise them with the help of the individuals, groups and government and securing an Australian Charter of rights through open communication and education, and innovative and respectful environment (AHRC 2009). The Commission also had the power to resolve issues such as the breach of human rights, to develop human rights educational programs, to undertake research on human rights and discriminating issues and to provide legal advices to courts for assisting human rights cases and to parliament and governments to establish policies and laws (VEOHRC n.d). (AHRC 2018, p 23).
Burridge and Ozdowski (2014) note that the government allocated approximately seven million Australian dollars to the AHRC to promote human rights values and education across the community. Moreover, there were inquiries regarding ‘…the Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families; the 1993 National Inquiry on Human Rights of People with Mental Illness, and the 2005 follow up report Not For Service – Experiences of Injustice and Despair in Mental Health Care in Australia’ to address the problems identified in relation to human rights. The main focus of Burridge and Ozdowski (2014), however, is on the educational developments brought up by the AHRC, which is one of the agendas that it worked on. The AHRC resolves the issues and enquires about the complaints generated through discrimination and disparagement in the community and provides protection for the right of freedom of religion or belief under article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (AHRC Submission 2017). There is a strategy developed by the Race Discrimination Commissioner and the AHRC with the purpose of preventing and reducing racism and creating awareness of racism and how it affects the individuals and communities. The antiracism strategy attends to the community through consultation held across the states and reviewing submissions and surveys, to further handle racism problems by working on existing measures. ‘The Racial Discrimination Act promotes equality before the law and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, descent and national or ethnic origin’ (AHRC 2019). The AHRC also supports the UN Declaration which underpins engagement and interaction of the Aboriginal and Torret Islanders in order to protect their rights, giving weightage to their self-determination (AHRC 2010).
Despite the fact that AHRC works towards protecting the rights of the Australian citizens, there are few gaps that need to be filled for better results. For instance, there is a persisting problem of discrimination present in the country which needs to be addressed by keeping in mind the beliefs and values of all groups, communities and individuals in the country for better understanding and promoting the human rights. Moreover, the anti-racism strategy serves as a strong plan to combat problems of racial discrimination in the states, however, the challenge is to implement the strategy. Forrester, Zimmerman & Finlay (2016) report in The Queensland Times that the AHRC acted disgracefully regarding the QUT race case in which the students were supposedly struck out of a computer lab considering there race. Regarding the indigenous people of Australia, Wahlquist (2017) notes that there is lack of control, overly bureaucratic policies and failure to listen to the indigenous voices. The Aboriginal and Torret Islanders have poor health and lack of access to health with lower socio-economic consequences in comparison to the non-Indigenous people of Australia (Wahlquist 2017). According to the Sydney Morning Herald, there is lack of political leadership and coordination between the Commonwealth and states, due to which there is slow development regarding the rights of people with disabilities in Australia (Fitzsimmons 2019). There seems to be problems with the governance of the AHRC (Martin 2017).
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Where the AHRC ensures that the human rights laws are met, I feel that there is still room for further development and progress. The AHRC should redirect its strategies for catering to the complaints and submissions, and introduce strict and effective control systems for follow ups. It should improve its complaints lodging and processing system and also improve its governance arrangements (Martin 2017). It should co-design the policies with government, communities and other related political bodies. There is a need for better data collection on race and ethnicity for better understanding of racial disparities in fields of education, health, employment and crime (AHRC 2017). Also the guidelines to the UN Declaration on protecting the rights of the indigenous people also need appropriate course of action and funding. There is a need of data collection of the indigenous population in Australia in order to allocate sufficient resources for their education, employment, health and other necessities, as according to Wahlquist (2017), there have been failure to implement the recommendations proposed by significant Indigenous inquiries, and therefore, there is a need to re-establish a national representative elected body for Aboriginal and Torret Islanders; this, in my opinion, could be done by the AHRC. Moreover, the AHRC could release new or redesigned policies on various issues of children’s rights, education, sexual harassment, racial discrimination, indigenous rights, etc., in order to promote human rights. Further, it can re-design its investigations and resolve issues in education, land and housing, provision of goods and services, rights to equality law, media, etc. (Federal Human Right Framework 2017).
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The Annual Report 2017-2018 of the Australian Human Rights Commission has provided me with comprehensive information through which I can analyze its positive outlook and its shortcomings for this briefing paper. In my opinion, the Australian Human Rights Commission needs significant changes regarding few issues which are essential for efficient and effective working of the AHRC. First, the leadership and governance needs to be changed which will try to resolve the issues arising from ignoring the policies and recommendations of the AHRC by the successive governments. Also the complaints process should be re-designed and improved for fruitful results. Timely and effective information will help the complaints procedures with compliance of discrimination law and human rights. Further, the research and expertise will help in preventing human rights breaches and will improve compliance with human rights obligations (AHRC 2018). The education and awareness is very important in promoting human rights, therefore, AHRC should encourage human rights education activities. If these amendments are brought in action, then it would be easier for the AHRC to help people understand the needs of human rights, spread awareness about the value and respect of human rights and engage the people of create a strong culture of human rights.
References
Australian Human Rights Commission 2009, ‘Annual Report 2008-2009’. Viewed on June 1st 2019, https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/annual-report-2008-2009-chapter-1#s1_1
Australian Human Rights Commission 2017, ‘Inquiry into the status of the human right to freedom of religion or belief’. Australian Human Rights Commission Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, Submission 12.
Australian Human Rights Commission 2018, ‘Annual Report 2017-2018. Viewed on June 3rd 2019, https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/commission-general/publications/annual-report-2017-2018
Australian Human Rights Commission 2019, ‘Submission to the Australian Human Rights Commission’s National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces’. Australian Human Rights Commission Submission, Victoria.
Australian Human Rights Commission 2010, ‘The Community Guide to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples’, AHRC, Sydney, viewed on June 2nd 2019, https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-social-justice/publications/community-guide-un
Australian Human Rights Commission 2017, ‘Commissioner to raise UN anti-racism recommendations’. Race Discrimination, December 12th 2017, viewed on June 2nd 2019. https://www.humanrights.gov.au/about/news/commissioner-raise-un-anti-racism-recommendations
Burridge, N and Ozdowski, S 2014, ‘Developments in Human Rights Education in Australia. Human Rights Education in Asia-Pacific: Volume Five.
Federal Human Right Framework 2017, ‘The Australian Human Rights Commission – Equity and Rights in society’. Tasmanian Law Handbook, Hobart Community Legal Services. Viewed on June 3rd 2019. https://www.hobartlegal.org.au/handbook/rights-disability-and-access/discrimination/federal-human-rights-framework/the-australian-human-rights-commission-ahrc/
Forrester, J, Zimmerman, A and Finlay, L 2016, ‘QUT Race Case: Human Rights Commission’s flaws on show’. The Queensland Times, November 7th 2016, viewed on June 3rd 2019.
Fitzsimmons, C 2019, ‘Progress is incredibly slow: Australia lagging on disability rights’. The Sydney Morning Herald, February 3rd 2019, viewed on June 3rd 2019.
Gunduz, C 2004, ‘Human Rights and Development: The World Bank’s Need for a consistent approach’. Development Studies Institute, LSE, no. 4-49.
Martin, S 2017, ‘Australian Human Rights Commission facing shake up’. The Weekend Australian, March 21st 2017, viewed on June 3rd 2019.
Triggs, G 2013, ‘Mental health and immigration detention’. The Medical Journal of Australia, 199(11), pp.721-722.
VEOHRC n.d, ‘Australian Human Rights Framework’, viewed on June 1st 2019, https://www.humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au/human-rights/the-charter/australian-human-rights-framework
Wahlquist, C 2017, ‘Australian Governments have failed Indigenous peoples, says Oxfam’. The Guardian, April 11th 2017, viewed on June 2nd 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/apr/12/australian-governments-have-failed-indigenous-peoples-says-oxfam
[1] The seven major human rights treaties of Australia to meet international human rights obligations can be seen at https://www.humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au/human-rights/the-charter/australian-human-rights-framework.
