Senior: 11 & 12: Unit 3: Human Rights in Australia

According to the latest Global Estimates of Modern Slavery (2022) from Walk Free, the International Labour Organisation and the International Organisation for Migration: "49.6 million people live in modern slavery - in forced labour or marriage. Roughly a quarter of victims of modern slavery are children."  This is despite the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights stating in Article 8 that: "No one shall be held in slavery; slavery and the slave trade in all their forms shall be prohibited. No one shall be held in servitude."

Task: To what extent is Australia meeting its international obligations contained in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights regarding modern slavery?

Image: Australian Federal Police, 2023

Websites for modern slavery / foreign work rights in Australia

Websites for human rights information

The ENTIRE collection of resources provided by the BBC Birtles Library can be searched on ONE single, powerful search platform, which retrieves print books, eBooks, database articles and websites. Click HERE for assistance.

 NEWS CORP NEWSPAPERS
These are accessible on campus only. To read the replica form of most of these newspapers, click on the top bar to 'Read the paper'

 
To read the day's paper, scroll right to the bottom of the page, to 'Today's paper' 

AUSTLII - Australian Legal Information Institute. Probably the most valuable Internet site for legal research in Australia. It publishes public legal information, and includes primary legal materials (legislation, treaties, and decisions of courts and tribunals); and secondary legal materials created by public bodies for purposes of public access (law reform and royal commission reports, for example).

 JADE - a free database of Australian legal judgements

Commonwealth

Australian Human Rights Commission

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Decisions 1985 - 2001. (Determination process transferred from HREOC to federal courts).

Federal Magistrates Court of Australia  from 2000 until April 2013

Federal Circuit & Family Court of Australia from April 2013

Refugee Review Tribunal of Australia

Queensland

Anti-Discrimination Commission of Queensland

Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal from 2009

Anti-Discrimination Tribunal Queensland 1992-2009

The Australian government is obligated to take pro-active measures to ensure human rights are protected by providing effective remedies for persons whose rights are violated, as well as measures against violating the rights of persons. According to the Australian Attorney-General's Department, Australia is a party to the following key human rights treaties of the United Nations:

• the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
• the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
• the International Convention to Suppress the Slave Trade and Slavery (ICSSTS)
• the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
• the International Labour Organization (ILO) 
• the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
• the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT)
• the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
• the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

Australia has also ratified three of the mechanisms that give individuals the right to complain directly to United Nations bodies about violations of their rights. 

This is subject to Human Rights Scrutiny (Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011) where all new Bills and disallowable legislative instruments must be accompanied by a Statement of Compatibility.

Commonwealth

Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth)

Criminal Code Act (1995)

Fair Work Act (2009)

Migration Act (1958)

Age Discrimination Act 2004 (Cth)

Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (Cth)

Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)

International Criminal Court Act 2002 (Cth)

Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth)

Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth)

Queensland
Queensland Human Rights Act 2019 (QLD): A Guide for Public Entities

Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (QLD)

1. Use 'Ctrl F' (Control + Find) to search for particular terms easily in a long document, whether from a website or a database article.

2.  Use a Boolean command - put double inverted commas around phrases to limit and improve your results eg "energy drinks cardiovascular problems children". 

3. Use a Google domain command eg site:edu OR site:gov to limit results to a CERTAIN DOMAIN such as education or government eg biodiesel site:edu

4. Use a Google command to limit results to the MOST RECENT: After you get your results, choose the Google Menu Bar, and choose 'Tools'. Then on the far left, at the drop-down menu next to 'Any Time', you can choose 'Within the last year' (or less, if you prefer), but generally, you can choose 'Custom Range' at the bottom, as often the last 3-4 years would be sufficient for a recent search.