Human rights in Australia
Encyclopedia
Human Rights in Australia have largely been developed under Australian Parliamentary democracy, and safeguarded by such institutions as the Australian Human Rights Commission and an independent judiciary and High Court
who apply the Common Law
, the Australian Constitution and various other laws of Australia and its states and territories
. Universal voting rights
and rights to freedom of speech
, freedom of association
, freedom of religion
and freedom from discrimination are protected in Australia. As a founding member of the United Nations
, Australia assisted in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and is signatory to various other international treaties on the subject of Human Rights
.
Contemporary Australia is a liberal democracy
and heir to a large post-World War II
multicultural programme of immigration in which forms of racial discrimination have been prohibited. As a former British Colony, Australia's historical approach to Human Rights has been subject to the inheritance of its Colonial past
- thus notions of the rights and processes established by the Magna Carta
and the Bill of Rights 1689
were brought to Australia by British colonists, but so was the European legal precept of Terra Nullius
(overturned in 1992) by which Indigenous Australians
were initially dispossessed without treaty nor compensation. By the 1850s, Australia had become a laboratory for Western democracy: Australian colonies were among the first political entities in the world to grant male (1850s) and female suffrage (1890s) and old age pensions and a minimum wage
were established around the turn of the century. Capital punishment in Australia
has been formally abolished. Vestigial laws discriminating against Aboriginal Australians were eradicated in the 1960s, and major recognitions of injustice towards Aboriginal Australia have been offered by Australian governments and courts throughout recent decades.
Since 1992 decisions of the High Court of Australia
have held that there are further "implied rights" within the Constitution to free speech and communication on matters concerning politics and government (known as the 'implied freedom of political communication').
. It has responsibility for the investigation of alleged infringements under Australia’s anti-discrimination legislation.
Matters that can be investigated by the Commission include "discrimination on the grounds of race, colour or ethnic origin, racial vilification
, sex
, sexual harassment
, marital status
, pregnancy
, or disability
."
Private members, the Greens party and the Democrats party have tried to add "sexuality
" and/or "gender identity
" to this list above, which has always failed to pass at least one house since 1995.
Decades before most other Western nations
Australians achieved voting rights. Britain's Australian colonies
granted male suffrage from the 1850s and in 1895 the women of South Australia
achieved the right to both vote and stand for Parliament, enabling Catherine Helen Spence
to be the first to stand as a political candidate in 1897. The Australian colonies federated as the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 and the Franchise Act of 1902, granted the right to vote to men and women. However, the Act also restricted votes for 'natives
' unless they were already enrolled. These restrictions were unevenly applied and were relaxed after World War II, with full rights restored by the Commonwealth Electoral Act of 1962. Senator
Neville Bonner
became the first Aboriginal Australian to sit in the federal Parliament in 1971. Julia Gillard
became the first female Prime Minister of Australia
in 2010.
Though the various parliaments of Australia have been constantly evolving, the key foundations for elected parliamentary government have maintained an historical continuity in Australia from the 1850s into the 21st century.
- although English law was transplanted into the Australian colonies by virtue of the doctrine of reception
, thus notions of the rights and processes established by the Magna Carta
and the Bill of Rights 1689
were brought from Britain by the colonists. Agitation for representative government began soon after the settlement of the colonies.
The oldest legislative body in Australia, the New South Wales Legislative Council
, was created in 1825 as an appointed body to advise the Governor of New South Wales. William Wentworth
established the Australian Patriotic Association (Australia's first political party) in 1835 to demand democratic government for New South Wales. The reformist attorney general, John Plunkett
, sought to apply Enlightenment
principles to governance in the colony, pursuing the establishment of equality before the law, first by extending jury rights to emancipist
s, then by extendeding legal protections to convicts, assigned servants and Aborigines
. Plunkett twice charged the colonist perpetrators of the Myall Creek massacre
of Aborigines with murder, resulting in a conviction and his landmark Church Act of 1836 disestablished
the Church of England
and established legal equality between Anglicans
, Catholics, Presbyterians and later Methodists.
In 1840, the Adelaide City Council and the Sydney City Council were established. Men who possessed 1000 pounds worth of property were able to stand for election and wealthy landowners were permitted up to four votes each in elections. Australia's first parliamentary elections were conducted for the New South Wales Legislative Council
in 1843, again with voting rights (for males only) tied to property ownership or financial capacity. Voter rights were extended further in New South Wales in 1850 and elections for legislative councils were held in the colonies of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.
By the mid 19th century, there was a strong desire for representative and responsible government in the colonies of Australia, fed by the democratic spirit of the goldfields
evident at the Eureka Stockade
and the ideas of the great reform movements sweeping Europe
, the United States
and the British Empire. The end of convict transportation accelerated reform in the 1840s and 1850s. The Australian Colonies Government Act [1850] was a landmark development which granted representative constitutions to New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania and the colonies enthusiastically set about writing constitutions which produced democratically progressive parliaments - though the constitutions generally maintained the role of the colonial upper houses as representative of social and economic "interests" and all established Constitutional Monarchies
with the British monarch as the symbolic head of state.
In 1855, limited self government was granted by London to New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. An innovative secret ballot
was introduced in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia in 1856, in which the government supplied voting paper containing the names of candidates and voters could select in private. This system was adopted around the world, becoming known as the "Australian Ballot". 1855 also saw the granting of the right to vote to all male British subjects 21 years or over in South Australia
. This right was extended to Victoria in 1857 and New South Wales the following year. The other colonies followed until, in 1896, Tasmania became the last colony to grant universal male suffrage.
The female descendants of the Bounty mutineers
who lived on Pitcairn Islands
could vote from 1838, and this right transferred with their resettlement to Norfolk Island
(now an Australian external territory
) in 1856.
Propertied women in the colony of South Australia were granted the vote in local elections (but not parliamentary elections) in 1861. Henrietta Dugdale
formed the first Australian women's suffrage society in Melbourne
, Victoria in 1884. Women became eligible to vote for the Parliament of South Australia
in 1894 and in 1897, Catherine Helen Spence
became the first female political candidate for political office, unsuccessfully standing for election as a delegate to Federal Convention on Australian Federation. Western Australia
granted voting rights to women in 1899.
The first election for the Parliament of the newly formed Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 was based on the electoral provisions of the six pre-existing colonies, so that women who had the vote and the right to stand for Parliament at state level had the same rights for the 1901 Australian Federal election. In 1902, the Commonwealth Parliament passed the Commonwealth Franchise Act, which enabled all women to vote and stand for election for the Federal Parliament. Four women stood for election in 1903. The Act did, however, specifically exclude 'natives' from Commonwealth franchise unless already enrolled in a state. In 1949, The right to vote in federal elections was extended to all Indigenous people who had served in the armed forces, or were enrolled to vote in state elections (Queensland, Western Australian, and the Northern Territory still excluded indigenous women from voting rights). Remaining restrictions were abolished in 1962 by the Commonwealth Electoral Act.
Edith Cowan
was elected to the West Australian Legislative Assembly in 1921, the first woman elected to any Australian Parliament. Dame Enid Lyons
, in the Australian House of Representatives
and Senator Dorothy Tangney
became the fist women in the Federal Parliament in 1943. Lyons went on to be the first woman to hold a Cabinet
post in the 1949 ministry of Robert Menzies
. Edith Cowan
was elected to the West Australian Legislative Assembly in 1921, the first woman elected to any Australian Parliament. Dame Enid Lyons
, in the Australian House of Representatives
and Senator Dorothy Tangney
became the fist women in the Federal Parliament in 1943. Lyons went on to be the first woman to hold a Cabinet post in the 1949 ministry of Robert Menzies
. Rosemary Follett
was elected Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory
in 1989, becoming the first woman elected to lead a state or territory. By 2010, the people of Australia's oldest city, Sydney
had female leaders occupying every major political office above them, with Clover Moore
as Lord Mayor, Kristina Keneally
as Premier of New South Wales, Marie Bashir
as Governor of New South Wales, Julia Gillard
as Prime Minister, Quentin Bryce
as Governor General of Australia and Elizabeth II as Queen of Australia.
The dates for the other states of Australia are summarised below.
began to be enfranchised within Parliamentary systems of the Australian colonies during the 1850s, however the granting of voting rights was uneven and restricted altogether in some colonies (and later states). Vestigial legal discrimination against Indigenous voters was removed in the 1960s.
The Holt Government
's Australian referendum, 1967 (Aboriginals)
- is often wrongly recalled as the year that the Aboriginal people of Australia gained the right to vote, however this is an incorrect date. When the state constitutions of New South Wales
, Victoria
, South Australia and Tasmania
were framed in 1850s, voting rights were granted to all male British subjects over the age of 21, which included Aboriginal men. However, few Aborigines were aware of their rights and hence very few participated in elections. The situation became murkier when the Commonwealth Franchise Act
was passed in 1902. The Act gave women a vote in federal elections
but Aboriginal people and people from Asia, Africa or the Pacific Islands
(except for Māori) were excluded unless entitled under Section 41 of the Australian Constitution
. Section 41 states that any individual who has gained a right to vote at a state level, must also have the right to vote in federal elections. The Solicitor-General, Sir Robert Garran
, interpreted it to mean that Commonwealth rights were granted only to people who were already State voters in 1902. What transpired was a situation where Aboriginals who had already enrolled to vote were able to continue to do so, whereas those who had not were denied the right. This interpretation was challenged in Victoria in 1924 by an Indian migrant, where the magistrate ruled that Section 2 meant that people who acquired State votes at any date were entitled to a Commonwealth vote. The Commonwealth government instead passed laws giving Indians the vote (There were only about 100 in Australia at the time), but continued to deny other non-white applicants.
Campaigns for indigenous rights in Australia gathered momentum from the 1930s. In 1938, with the participation of leading indigenous activists like Douglas Nicholls
, the Australian Aborigines Advancement League organised a protest "Day of Mourning" to mark the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet
of British in Australia and launched its campaign for full citizenship rights for all Aborigines. In the 1940s, the conditions of life for Aborigines could be very poor. A permit system restricted movement and work opportunities for many Aboriginal people. In the 1950s, the government pursued a policy of "assimilation" which sought to achieve full citizenship rights for Aborigines but also wanted them to adopt the mode of life of other Australians (which very often was assumed to reqire suppression of cultural identity).
In the 1960s, reflecting the strong Civil rights movement
s in the United States
and South Africa
, many changes in Aborigines’ rights and treatment followed, including removal of restrictions on full voting rights. The Menzies Government Commonwealth Electoral Act of 1962 confirmed the Commonwealth vote for all Aborigines. Western Australia
gave them State votes in the same year, and Queensland
followed in 1965.
The 1967 referendum
was held and overwhelmingly approved to amend the Constitution, removing discriminatory references and giving the national parliament the power to legislate specifically for Indigenous Australians
. Contrary to frequently repeated mythology, this referendum did not cover citizenship on Aboriginal people, nor did it give them the vote: they already had both. However, transferring this power away from the State parliaments
did bring an end to the system of Indigenous Australian reserves which existed in each state, which allowed Indigenous people to move more freely, and exercise many of their citizenship rights for the first time. From the late 1960s a movement for Indigenous land rights
also developed. In the mid 1960s, one of the earliest Aboriginal graduates from the University of Sydney
, Charles Perkins, helped organise freedom rides
into parts of Australia to expose discrimination and inequality. In 1966, the Gurindji people of Wave Hill station (owned by the Vestey Group
) commenced strike action led by Vincent Lingiari
in a quest for equal pay and recognition of land rights.
Indigenous Australians began to take up representation in Australian parliaments during the 1970s. In 1971 Neville Bonner
of the Liberal Party
was appointed by the Queensland Parliament to replace a retiring senator, becoming the first Aborigine in Federal Parliament. Bonner was returned as a Senator at the 1972 election and remained until 1983. Hyacinth Tungutalum
of the Country Liberal Party
in the Northern Territory
and Eric Deeral of the National Party
of Queensland, became the first Indigenous people elected to territory and state legislatures in 1974. In 1976, Sir Douglas Nicholls
was appointed Governor of South Australia, becoming the first Aborigine to hold vice-regal office in Australia. Aden Ridgeway
of the Australian Democrats
served as a senator during the 1990s, but No indigenous person was elected to the House of Representatives, until West Australian Liberal
Ken Wyatt
, in August 2010.
was hanged at Pentridge Prison on 3 February 1967 for the murder of a prison guard, George Hodson.
Capital punishment was officially abolished for federal offences by the Death Penalty Abolition Act 1973. The various states abolished capital punishment at various times, starting with Queensland in 1922 and ending with New South Wales in 1985.
Indigenous Australians
are the descendants of the mainland's Aboriginal peoples and the Torres Strait Islanders
who occupied Australia prior to the arrival of British settlers
in 1788. Their ancestors arrived in Australia over 50,000 years ago. Though their continental population was never large, introduced disease and frontier conflict saw a decline in the indigenous population during the colonial period, though numbers have recovered and continued to increase in more recent times. Historically, many indigenous Australians were dispossessed without treaty nor compensation, and certain laws discriminated against them. In modern Australia, racial discrimination is illegal and Indigenous people have access to certain welfare and land entitlements not accessible to non-indigenous Australians. Particularly in remote regions, standards of health and education among indigenous people are often lower than amongst the general population.
claimed the east coast of Australia for Britain in 1770, without conducting negotiations with the Indigenous Australians
. The first Governor of New South Wales, Arthur Phillip
, was instructed explicitly to establish friendship and good relations with the Aborigines and interactions between the early newcomers and the ancient landowners varied considerably throughout the colonial period—from the mutual curiosity displayed by the early interlocutors Bennelong
and Bungaree
of Sydney, to the outright hostility of Pemulwuy
and Windradyne
of the Sydney region, and Yagan
around Perth. A combination of disease, loss of land (and thus food resources) and war reduced the Aboriginal population and the impact of Europeans was profoundly disruptive to Aboriginal life. Though the extent of violence is debated, there was conflict on the frontier. According to the historian Geoffrey Blainey
, in Australia during the colonial period: "In a thousand isolated places there were occasional shootings and spearings. Even worse, smallpox, measles, influenza and other new diseases swept from one Aboriginal camp to another ... The main conqueror of Aborigines was to be disease and its ally, demoralisation".
The British established a new outpost in Van Diemen's Land
(Tasmania) in 1803. Although Tasmanian history is amongst the most contested by modern historians, conflict between colonists and Aborigines was referred to in some contemporary accounts as the Black War
. The combined effects of disease, dispossession, intermarriage and conflict saw a collapse of the Aboriginal population from a few thousand people when the British arrived, to a few hundred by the 1830s. Estimates of how many people were killed during the period begin at around 300, though verification of the true figure is now impossible.
In 1838, at least twenty-eight Aborigines were killed at Myall Creek
in New South Wales, resulting in the unprecedented conviction and hanging of seven white settlers by the colonial courts. From the 1830s, colonial governments established the now controversial offices of the Protector of Aborigines
in an effort to avoid mistreatment of Indigenous peoples and conduct government policy towards them. Christian churches in Australia
sought to convert Aborigines, and were often used by government to carry out welfare and assimilation policies. Colonial churchmen such as Sydney's first Catholic archbishop, John Bede Polding strongly advocated for Aboriginal rights and dignity and prominent Aboriginal activist Noel Pearson (born 1965), who was raised at a Lutheran mission in Cape York
, has written that Christian missions throughout Australia's colonial history "provided a haven from the hell of life on the Australian frontier while at the same time facilitating colonisation".
Fighting at Coniston
in the Northern Territory in 1928 saw the last major battle on the 'frontier' of indigenous and non-indigenous Australia. The Caledon Bay crisis
of 1932-4 saw one of the last incidents of frontier violence, which began when the spearing of Japanese poachers who had been molesting Yolngu
women was followed by the killing of a policeman. As the crisis unfolded, national opinion swung behind the Aboriginal people involved, and the first appeal on behalf of an Indigenous Australian to the High Court of Australia
was launched. Following the crisis, the anthropologist Donald Thompson
was despatched by the government to live among the Yolngu. Elsewhere around this time, activists like Sir Douglas Nicholls
were commencing their campaigns for Aboriginal rights within the established Australian political system and the age of frontier conflict closed.
In 1962, the Menzies Government's Commonwealth Electoral Act provided that all Indigenous Australians
should have the right to enrol and vote at federal elections (prior to this, indigenous people in Queensland, Western Australia and some in the Northern Territory had been excluded from voting unless they were ex-servicemen). The successor Holt Government
called the 1967 Referendum
which removed the discriminatory clause in the Australian Constitution which excluded Aboriginal Australians from being counted in the census - the referendum was one of the few to be overwhelmingly endorsed by the Australian electorate (over 90% voted 'yes').
From the 1960s, Australian writers began to re-assess European assumptions about Aboriginal Australia - with works including Geoffrey Blainey's
landmark history Triumph of the Nomads (1975) and the books of historian Henry Reynolds
.
The Whitlam Labor
and Fraser Liberal Government
s instigated the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976
, which, while limited to the Northern Territory, affirmed "inalienable" freehold title to some traditional lands. In 1985, the Hawke Government returned ownership of Uluru
(formerly known as Ayers Rock) to the local Pitjantjatjara Aboriginal people. In 1992, the High Court of Australia
handed down its decision in the Mabo Case, declaring the previous legal concept of terra nullius to be invalid. That same year, Prime Minister Paul Keating
said in his Redfern Park Speech
that European settlers were responsible for the difficulties Australian Aboriginal communities continued to face: ‘We committed the murders. We took the children from their mothers. We practiced discrimination and exclusion. It was our ignorance and our prejudice’. In 1999 Parliament passed a Motion of Reconciliation
drafted by Prime Minister John Howard
and Aboriginal Senator Aden Ridgeway
naming mistreatment of Indigenous Australians as the most "blemished chapter in our national history".
Prior to the calling of a 2007 federal election, the then Prime Minister, John Howard, revisited the idea of bringing a referendum to seek recognition of Indigenous Australians in the Constitution (his government first sought to include recognition of Aboriginal peoples in the Preamble to the Constitution in a 1999 referendum). The Labor opposition initially supported the idea, however Kevin Rudd
withdrew this support just prior to the election.
Notable contemporary indigenous rights campaigners have included: federal politicians Aden Ridgeway
and Ken Wyatt
, lawyer Noel Pearson; academic Marcia Langton
; and Australians of the Year
Lowitja O'Donoghue
(1984), Mandawuy Yunupingu
(1992) , Cathy Freeman
(1998) and Mick Dodson
(2009).
n Aboriginal children who were removed from their families by Australian government agencies and church
missions between approximately 1900 and 1972.
The nature of the removals, their extent, and its effects on those removed, is a topic of considerable dispute and political debate within Australia.
According to a government inquiry on the topic, at least 30,000 children were removed from their parents and the figure may be substantially higher (the report notes that formal records of removals were very poorly kept). Percentage estimates were given that 10–30% of all Aboriginal children born during the seventy year period were removed.
On 13 February 2008, Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd
as well as the Leader of the Opposition, Brendan Nelson
, delivered an official apology on behalf of the Parliament of Australia to the Stolen Generations:
In 2007, Prime Minister John Howard
and Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough
launched the Northern Territory National Emergency Response
. In response to the Little Children are Sacred
Report into allegations of child abuse among indigenous communities in the Territory, the government banned alcohol in prescribed communities in the Northern Territory; quarantined a percentage of welfare payments for essential goods purchasing; despatched additional police and medical personnel to the region; and suspended the permit system for access to indigenous communities. The policy was largely maintained under the Rudd
and Gillard Government
s.
The Intervention has been controversial. It was initially exempted from the Racial Discrimination Act 1975
. It entails restrictions on alcohol and kava
, a ban on pornography
, the compulsory acquisition of townships currently held under the title provisions of the Native Title Act 1993
through five year leases with compensation on a basis other than just terms. (The number of settlements involved remains unclear.), the suspension of the permit system, the quarantining of a proportion of welfare benefits to all recipients in the designated communities and of all benefits of those who neglect their children, and the abolition of the Community Development Employment Program (CDEP).
The suicide rate amongst Aboriginal Australians is almost 3 times higher (at 4.2%) than the national average (1.5%).
The most common causes of death among the adult population are diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Indigenous people suffer from a rate of death from many diseases multiple times the rate of non-indigenous people according to a 2006 report by the Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission.
However, despite significant health gains being made by Indigenous peoples in the 1970s and 1980s, health inequality continues to grow across a number of indicators. This can be attributed, in part, to both a slowing up of health gains being made by Indigenous peoples and the rapid health gains made by the non-Indigenous population in recent decades.
Indigenous peoples' self-assessed health status shows they believe little improvement has occurred over the past decade. Over the NATSIS 1994 - NATSISS 2002, the percentage of Indigenous peoples assessing their health as 'fair/poor' rose from 17.5% to 23.3%. Correspondingly, there was no statistically significant increase in the number who assessed their health as 'excellent/very good' or reported reductions in smoking; or alcohol consumption.
The ABS has estimated that the life expectation for Indigenous females decreased slightly from 63 to 62.8 years over 1997 - 2001. For males, it increased from 55.6 to 56.3 years. The life expectation inequality gap increased: between Indigenous and non-Indigenous males: rising from 20.6 to 20.7 years; while between Indigenous and non-Indigenous females, it rose from 18.8 to 19.6 years. The life expectation formula that was used to produce these estimates has now been superseded by a formula that produces an estimate over five year periods.
Under a new life expectation formula adopted by the ABS in 2003, Indigenous males' life expectation was estimated to be 59.4 years over 1996-2001, while female life expectation was estimated to be 64.8 years. A life expectation inequality gap of approximately 18-years was identified, a reduction of approximately three years on estimates produced in 2001 under the now superseded formula. The next estimate will be calculated over 2001 - 2006.
Indigenous life expectation appears to be similar to that of people in low development states. Although international comparisons should be made with some caution (because of the different formulae with which life expectation is calculated between jurisdictions), with reference to the 2004 United Nation's Human Development Index, Indigenous peoples appear to have a life expectation approximating that of the people of Pakistan (60.8 years).
from the 1890s to the 1950s, and elements of the policy survived until the 1970s. Although the expression “White Australia Policy” was never in official use, it was common in political and public debate throughout the period.
The Immigration Restriction Act 1901
was one of the first laws passed by the new Australian parliament
. The law permitted a dictation test in any European language to be used to in effect exclude non-"white" immigrants. Parliament generally supported the restrictions on the basis of various rationales from labour force protection to outright racism. Outside parliament, figures like Australia's first Catholic cardinal
, Patrick Francis Moran denounced anti-Chinese legislation as "unchristian", but was mocked in the popular press and the small European population of Australia generally supported the legislation and remained fearful of being overwhelmed by an influx of non-British migrants from the vastly different cultures of the highly populated empires to Australia's north.
The policy was dismantled by successive governments after World War II
, with the Chifley Government
pursuing a "populate or perish" migration program which initially favoured British migrants, but increasingly reached out to Southern and Eastern European migrants under the Menzies Government, which] in 1958, replaced the Immigration Act's arbitrarily applied European language dictation test with an entry permit system, that reflected economic and skills criteria. The successor Holt Government
introduced the Migration Act 1966, which effectively dismantled the White Australia Policy and increased access to non-European migrants, including refugees fleeing the Vietnam War. The subsequent Whitlam Government
and Fraser Government
then shifted immigration policy to a position of official support for multiculturalism
. The subsequent Hawke-Keating Government and Howard Government
continued the policy of large multiethnic migration. And by the early 21st century, post war immigration had seen 6.5 million migrants from 200 nations arrive in Australia, bringing immense new diversity and Australians grew increasingly aware of proximity to Asia.
The term 'mandatory detention' describes the legislation and actions of the Australian government to detain all persons entering the country without a valid visa
, including children. The policy started under the Keating Labor Government with the passing of the Migration Amendment Act in 1992. The immigration minister, Gerry Hand
, explained that the policy, to be applied on a case-by-case basis would facilitate the processing of refugee claims, prevent de facto migration and save the cost of locating people in the community. However the Migration Reform Act of 1994 introduced by the next immigration minister, Senator Nick Bolkus
, made the detention of 'unlawful non-citizens' mandatory.
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, these unauthorised arrivals, popularly referred to as boat people
, were transferred to one of the Australian immigration detention facilities
on the Australian mainland, or to Manus Island
or Nauru
as part of the Pacific Solution
.
were denied to children living in immigration detention.
The Inquiry has found that Australian laws that require the mandatory, indeterminate and effectively unreviewable immigration detention of children, and the way these laws are administered by the Commonwealth, have resulted in numerous and repeated breaches of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Inquiry made a range of specific findings in relation to:
These specific findings, based on evidence received by the Inquiry, were assessed against Australia's human rights obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. From this, the Inquiry reached its major findings and recommendations.
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
who apply the Common Law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
, the Australian Constitution and various other laws of Australia and its states and territories
States and territories of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...
. Universal voting rights
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
and rights to freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
, freedom of association
Freedom of association
Freedom of association is the individual right to come together with other individuals and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests....
, freedom of religion
Freedom of religion
Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...
and freedom from discrimination are protected in Australia. As a founding member of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, Australia assisted in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
and is signatory to various other international treaties on the subject of Human Rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
.
Contemporary Australia is a liberal democracy
Liberal democracy
Liberal democracy, also known as constitutional democracy, is a common form of representative democracy. According to the principles of liberal democracy, elections should be free and fair, and the political process should be competitive...
and heir to a large post-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
multicultural programme of immigration in which forms of racial discrimination have been prohibited. As a former British Colony, Australia's historical approach to Human Rights has been subject to the inheritance of its Colonial past
History of Australia
The History of Australia refers to the history of the area and people of Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding Indigenous and colonial societies. Aboriginal Australians are believed to have first arrived on the Australian mainland by boat from the Indonesian archipelago between 40,000 to...
- thus notions of the rights and processes established by the Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
and the Bill of Rights 1689
Bill of Rights 1689
The Bill of Rights or the Bill of Rights 1688 is an Act of the Parliament of England.The Bill of Rights was passed by Parliament on 16 December 1689. It was a re-statement in statutory form of the Declaration of Right presented by the Convention Parliament to William and Mary in March 1689 ,...
were brought to Australia by British colonists, but so was the European legal precept of Terra Nullius
Terra nullius
Terra nullius is a Latin expression deriving from Roman law meaning "land belonging to no one" , which is used in international law to describe territory which has never been subject to the sovereignty of any state, or over which any prior sovereign has expressly or implicitly relinquished...
(overturned in 1992) by which Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
were initially dispossessed without treaty nor compensation. By the 1850s, Australia had become a laboratory for Western democracy: Australian colonies were among the first political entities in the world to grant male (1850s) and female suffrage (1890s) and old age pensions and a minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
were established around the turn of the century. Capital punishment in Australia
Capital punishment in Australia
Capital punishment has been formally abolished in Australia. It was last used in 1967, when Ronald Ryan was hanged in Victoria. Ryan was the last of 114 people executed in the 20th century and prior to his execution Queensland and New South Wales had already abolished the death penalty for murder....
has been formally abolished. Vestigial laws discriminating against Aboriginal Australians were eradicated in the 1960s, and major recognitions of injustice towards Aboriginal Australia have been offered by Australian governments and courts throughout recent decades.
Australian Constitution
The Australian Constitution took effect on 1 January 1901. It includes details on the composition, powers and processes of the Australian Parliament and how federal and state Parliaments share power within Australia. It contains several express and implied protections of human rights - though it does not contain a Bill of Right as contained in the United States Constitution. It can only be altered by referendum. Civil and political rights and liberties expressly provided by the Constitution are: ss 41 (right to vote), 80 (right to jury trial for indictable offences), 116 (freedom of religion) and 117 (freedom from discrimination on the basis of State residence). Economic rights provisions are s 92, which protects freedom of interstate trade, commerce and intercourse; s 51(xxiiiA), which prohibits civil conscription in relation to medical and dental services; and s 51(xxxi), which empowers the Commonwealth government to acquire property "on just terms".Since 1992 decisions of the High Court of Australia
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
have held that there are further "implied rights" within the Constitution to free speech and communication on matters concerning politics and government (known as the 'implied freedom of political communication').
Australian Human Rights Commission
The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) (previously known as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission) is a national independent statutory body of the Australian governmentGovernment of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...
. It has responsibility for the investigation of alleged infringements under Australia’s anti-discrimination legislation.
Matters that can be investigated by the Commission include "discrimination on the grounds of race, colour or ethnic origin, racial vilification
Racial vilification
Racial vilification is the term in the legislation of Australia that refers to a public act that encourages or incites others to hate people because of their race, nationality, country of origin, colour or ethnic origin...
, sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
, sexual harassment
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...
, marital status
Marital status
A person's marital status indicates whether the person is married. Questions about marital status appear on many polls and forms, including censuses and credit card applications.In the simplest sense, the only possible answers are "single" or "married"...
, pregnancy
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
, or disability
Disability
A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...
."
Private members, the Greens party and the Democrats party have tried to add "sexuality
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
" and/or "gender identity
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
" to this list above, which has always failed to pass at least one house since 1995.
Voting rights
History of western civilization
Roots of the Western civilization in its broader sense may be traced back to 9000 BC, when around the headwaters of the Euphrates, Tigris, and Jordan Rivers farming began, spreading outwards across Europe; the West thus produced the world's first cities, states, and empires. However, Western...
Australians achieved voting rights. Britain's Australian colonies
History of Australia
The History of Australia refers to the history of the area and people of Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding Indigenous and colonial societies. Aboriginal Australians are believed to have first arrived on the Australian mainland by boat from the Indonesian archipelago between 40,000 to...
granted male suffrage from the 1850s and in 1895 the women of South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
achieved the right to both vote and stand for Parliament, enabling Catherine Helen Spence
Catherine Helen Spence
Catherine Helen Spence was a Scottish-born Australian author, teacher, journalist, politician and leading suffragette. In 1897 she became Australia's first female political candidate after standing for the Federal Convention held in Adelaide...
to be the first to stand as a political candidate in 1897. The Australian colonies federated as the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 and the Franchise Act of 1902, granted the right to vote to men and women. However, the Act also restricted votes for 'natives
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
' unless they were already enrolled. These restrictions were unevenly applied and were relaxed after World War II, with full rights restored by the Commonwealth Electoral Act of 1962. Senator
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
Neville Bonner
Neville Bonner
Neville Thomas Bonner AO was an Australian politician, and the first indigenous Australian to become a member of the Parliament of Australia...
became the first Aboriginal Australian to sit in the federal Parliament in 1971. Julia Gillard
Julia Gillard
Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia, in office since June 2010.Gillard was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and migrated with her family to Adelaide, Australia in 1966, attending Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. In 1982 Gillard moved...
became the first female Prime Minister of Australia
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
in 2010.
Though the various parliaments of Australia have been constantly evolving, the key foundations for elected parliamentary government have maintained an historical continuity in Australia from the 1850s into the 21st century.
Men
Traditional Aboriginal society had been governed by councils of elders and a corporate decision making process, but the first European-style governments established after 1788 were autocratic and run by appointed governorsGovernors of New South Wales
The Governor of New South Wales is the state viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who is equally shared with 15 other sovereign nations in a form of personal union, as well as with the eleven other jurisdictions of Australia, and resides predominantly in her...
- although English law was transplanted into the Australian colonies by virtue of the doctrine of reception
Doctrine of reception
In common law, the doctrine of reception refers to the process in which the English law becomes applicable to a British Crown Colony, protectorate, or protected state....
, thus notions of the rights and processes established by the Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
and the Bill of Rights 1689
Bill of Rights 1689
The Bill of Rights or the Bill of Rights 1688 is an Act of the Parliament of England.The Bill of Rights was passed by Parliament on 16 December 1689. It was a re-statement in statutory form of the Declaration of Right presented by the Convention Parliament to William and Mary in March 1689 ,...
were brought from Britain by the colonists. Agitation for representative government began soon after the settlement of the colonies.
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...
, was created in 1825 as an appointed body to advise the Governor of New South Wales. William Wentworth
William Wentworth
William Charles Wentworth was an Australian poet, explorer, journalist and politician, and one of the leading figures of early colonial New South Wales...
established the Australian Patriotic Association (Australia's first political party) in 1835 to demand democratic government for New South Wales. The reformist attorney general, John Plunkett
John Plunkett
John Hubert Plunkett was Attorney-General of New South Wales and elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly.-Early life:...
, sought to apply Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
principles to governance in the colony, pursuing the establishment of equality before the law, first by extending jury rights to emancipist
Emancipist
An emancipist was any of the convicts sentenced and transported under the convict system to Australia, who had been given conditional or absolute pardons...
s, then by extendeding legal protections to convicts, assigned servants and Aborigines
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
. Plunkett twice charged the colonist perpetrators of the Myall Creek massacre
Myall Creek massacre
Myall Creek Massacre involved the killing of up to 30 unarmed Australian Aborigines by European settlers on 10 June 1838 at the Myall Creek near Bingara in northern New South Wales...
of Aborigines with murder, resulting in a conviction and his landmark Church Act of 1836 disestablished
State religion
A state religion is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state...
the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
and established legal equality between Anglicans
Anglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...
, Catholics, Presbyterians and later Methodists.
In 1840, the Adelaide City Council and the Sydney City Council were established. Men who possessed 1000 pounds worth of property were able to stand for election and wealthy landowners were permitted up to four votes each in elections. Australia's first parliamentary elections were conducted for the New South Wales Legislative Council
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...
in 1843, again with voting rights (for males only) tied to property ownership or financial capacity. Voter rights were extended further in New South Wales in 1850 and elections for legislative councils were held in the colonies of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.
By the mid 19th century, there was a strong desire for representative and responsible government in the colonies of Australia, fed by the democratic spirit of the goldfields
Australian gold rushes
The Australian gold rush started in 1851 when prospector Edward Hammond Hargraves claimed the discovery of payable gold near Bathurst, New South Wales, at a site Edward Hargraves called Ophir.Eight months later, gold was found in Victoria...
evident at the Eureka Stockade
Eureka Stockade
The Eureka Rebellion of 1854 was an organised rebellion by gold miners which occurred at Eureka Lead in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The Battle of Eureka Stockade was fought on 3 December 1854 and named for the stockade structure erected by miners during the conflict...
and the ideas of the great reform movements sweeping Europe
History of Europe
History of Europe describes the history of humans inhabiting the European continent since it was first populated in prehistoric times to present, with the first human settlement between 45,000 and 25,000 BC.-Overview:...
, the United States
History of the United States
The history of the United States traditionally starts with the Declaration of Independence in the year 1776, although its territory was inhabited by Native Americans since prehistoric times and then by European colonists who followed the voyages of Christopher Columbus starting in 1492. The...
and the British Empire. The end of convict transportation accelerated reform in the 1840s and 1850s. The Australian Colonies Government Act [1850] was a landmark development which granted representative constitutions to New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania and the colonies enthusiastically set about writing constitutions which produced democratically progressive parliaments - though the constitutions generally maintained the role of the colonial upper houses as representative of social and economic "interests" and all established Constitutional Monarchies
Constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...
with the British monarch as the symbolic head of state.
In 1855, limited self government was granted by London to New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. An innovative secret ballot
Secret ballot
The secret ballot is a voting method in which a voter's choices in an election or a referendum are anonymous. The key aim is to ensure the voter records a sincere choice by forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation or bribery. The system is one means of achieving the goal of...
was introduced in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia in 1856, in which the government supplied voting paper containing the names of candidates and voters could select in private. This system was adopted around the world, becoming known as the "Australian Ballot". 1855 also saw the granting of the right to vote to all male British subjects 21 years or over in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. This right was extended to Victoria in 1857 and New South Wales the following year. The other colonies followed until, in 1896, Tasmania became the last colony to grant universal male suffrage.
Women
Mutiny on the Bounty
The mutiny on the Bounty was a mutiny that occurred aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty on 28 April 1789, and has been commemorated by several books, films, and popular songs, many of which take considerable liberties with the facts. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against the...
who lived on Pitcairn Islands
Pitcairn Islands
The Pitcairn Islands , officially named the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, form a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. The islands are a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union in the Pacific...
could vote from 1838, and this right transferred with their resettlement to Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
(now an Australian external territory
States and territories of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...
) in 1856.
Propertied women in the colony of South Australia were granted the vote in local elections (but not parliamentary elections) in 1861. Henrietta Dugdale
Henrietta Dugdale
Henrietta Augusta Dugdale was a pioneer suffragist and radical in the Australian state of Victoria.She was born in London. Married at age 14 to a man named Davies, she and her husband moved to Melbourne. Following his death in 1859, she married William Dugdale and they had three children. Austin,...
formed the first Australian women's suffrage society in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Victoria in 1884. Women became eligible to vote for the Parliament of South Australia
Parliament of South Australia
The Parliament of South Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly. It follows a Westminster system of parliamentary government....
in 1894 and in 1897, Catherine Helen Spence
Catherine Helen Spence
Catherine Helen Spence was a Scottish-born Australian author, teacher, journalist, politician and leading suffragette. In 1897 she became Australia's first female political candidate after standing for the Federal Convention held in Adelaide...
became the first female political candidate for political office, unsuccessfully standing for election as a delegate to Federal Convention on Australian Federation. Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
granted voting rights to women in 1899.
The first election for the Parliament of the newly formed Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 was based on the electoral provisions of the six pre-existing colonies, so that women who had the vote and the right to stand for Parliament at state level had the same rights for the 1901 Australian Federal election. In 1902, the Commonwealth Parliament passed the Commonwealth Franchise Act, which enabled all women to vote and stand for election for the Federal Parliament. Four women stood for election in 1903. The Act did, however, specifically exclude 'natives' from Commonwealth franchise unless already enrolled in a state. In 1949, The right to vote in federal elections was extended to all Indigenous people who had served in the armed forces, or were enrolled to vote in state elections (Queensland, Western Australian, and the Northern Territory still excluded indigenous women from voting rights). Remaining restrictions were abolished in 1962 by the Commonwealth Electoral Act.
Edith Cowan
Edith Cowan
Edith Dircksey Cowan , MBE was an Australian politician, social campaigner and the first woman elected to an Australian parliament....
was elected to the West Australian Legislative Assembly in 1921, the first woman elected to any Australian Parliament. Dame Enid Lyons
Enid Lyons
Dame Enid Muriel Lyons, AD, GBE was an Australian politician and the first woman to be elected to the Australian House of Representatives as well as the first woman appointed to the federal Cabinet...
, in the Australian House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
and Senator Dorothy Tangney
Dorothy Tangney
Dame Dorothy Margaret Tangney DBE was an Australian politician and the first woman member of the Australian Senate.Dorothy Tangney started her career as a school teacher in Western Australia...
became the fist women in the Federal Parliament in 1943. Lyons went on to be the first woman to hold a Cabinet
Cabinet of Australia
The Cabinet of Australia is the council of senior ministers of the Crown, responsible to parliament. The Cabinet is appointed by the Governor-General, on the advice of the Prime Minister the Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, and serves at the former's pleasure. The strictly private...
post in the 1949 ministry of Robert Menzies
Robert Menzies
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
. Edith Cowan
Edith Cowan
Edith Dircksey Cowan , MBE was an Australian politician, social campaigner and the first woman elected to an Australian parliament....
was elected to the West Australian Legislative Assembly in 1921, the first woman elected to any Australian Parliament. Dame Enid Lyons
Enid Lyons
Dame Enid Muriel Lyons, AD, GBE was an Australian politician and the first woman to be elected to the Australian House of Representatives as well as the first woman appointed to the federal Cabinet...
, in the Australian House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
and Senator Dorothy Tangney
Dorothy Tangney
Dame Dorothy Margaret Tangney DBE was an Australian politician and the first woman member of the Australian Senate.Dorothy Tangney started her career as a school teacher in Western Australia...
became the fist women in the Federal Parliament in 1943. Lyons went on to be the first woman to hold a Cabinet post in the 1949 ministry of Robert Menzies
Robert Menzies
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
. Rosemary Follett
Rosemary Follett
Rosemary Follett AO , Australian politician, was the first Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory. She was the first woman to become head of government in an Australian state or territory....
was elected Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory
Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory
The Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory is the head of government of the Australian Capital Territory. The leader of party with the largest representation of seats in the unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly usually takes on the role...
in 1989, becoming the first woman elected to lead a state or territory. By 2010, the people of Australia's oldest city, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
had female leaders occupying every major political office above them, with Clover Moore
Clover Moore
Clover Moore , is an Australian politician, the Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney and an independent member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the electorate of Sydney. Moore is the first publicly elected female Lord Mayor of Sydney. Prior to the 2007 NSW state election, she...
as Lord Mayor, Kristina Keneally
Kristina Keneally
Kristina Kerscher Keneally MP, is an Australian politician and was the 42nd Premier of New South Wales. She was elected leader of the Australian Labor Party in New South Wales and thus Premier in 2009, but went on to lose government to the Liberal/National Coalition at the March 2011 state election...
as Premier of New South Wales, Marie Bashir
Marie Bashir
Marie Roslyn Bashir AC, CVO is the present Governor of New South Wales since 2001 and also the Chancellor of the University of Sydney since 2007. Born in Narrandera, New South Wales, Bashir graduated from the University of Sydney in 1956 and held various medical positions, with a particular...
as Governor of New South Wales, Julia Gillard
Julia Gillard
Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia, in office since June 2010.Gillard was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and migrated with her family to Adelaide, Australia in 1966, attending Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. In 1982 Gillard moved...
as Prime Minister, Quentin Bryce
Quentin Bryce
Quentin Bryce, AC, CVO is the 25th and current Governor-General of Australia and former Governor of Queensland....
as Governor General of Australia and Elizabeth II as Queen of Australia.
The dates for the other states of Australia are summarised below.
| Right to Vote | Right to stand for Parliament | |
| South Australia | 1894 | 1894 |
| Western Australia | 1899 | 1920 |
| Australia (Commonwealth) | 1902 | 1902 |
| New South Wales | 1902 | 1918 |
| Tasmania | 1903 | 1921 |
| Queensland | 1905 | 1915 |
| Victoria | 1908 | 1923 |
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous AustraliansIndigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
began to be enfranchised within Parliamentary systems of the Australian colonies during the 1850s, however the granting of voting rights was uneven and restricted altogether in some colonies (and later states). Vestigial legal discrimination against Indigenous voters was removed in the 1960s.
The Holt Government
Holt Government
The Holt Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister Harold Holt. It was made up of members of a Liberal Party of Australia-Country Party of Australia coalition in the Australian Parliament from 26 January 1966 – 17 December 1967.- Background :The...
's Australian referendum, 1967 (Aboriginals)
Australian referendum, 1967 (Aboriginals)
The referendum of 27 May 1967 approved two amendments to the Australian constitution relating to Indigenous Australians. Technically it was a vote on the Constitution Alteration 1967, which became law on 10 August 1967 following the results of the referendum...
- is often wrongly recalled as the year that the Aboriginal people of Australia gained the right to vote, however this is an incorrect date. When the state constitutions of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, South Australia and Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
were framed in 1850s, voting rights were granted to all male British subjects over the age of 21, which included Aboriginal men. However, few Aborigines were aware of their rights and hence very few participated in elections. The situation became murkier when the Commonwealth Franchise Act
Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902
The Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 was an Act of the Parliament of Australia which defined who was allowed to vote in Australian federal elections. The Act granted Australian women the right to vote at a national level, and to stand for election to the Parliament...
was passed in 1902. The Act gave women a vote in federal elections
Elections in Australia
Australia elects a legislature the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia using various electoral systems: see Australian electoral system. The Parliament consists of two chambers:...
but Aboriginal people and people from Asia, Africa or the Pacific Islands
Pacific Islands
The Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands are also sometimes collectively called Oceania, although Oceania is sometimes defined as also including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago....
(except for Māori) were excluded unless entitled under Section 41 of the Australian Constitution
Section 41 of the Australian Constitution
Section 41 of the Australian Constitution is a provision of the Constitution of Australia which states that "no adult person who has or acquires a right to vote at elections for the more numerous House of the Parliament of a State shall, while the right continues, be prevented by any law of the...
. Section 41 states that any individual who has gained a right to vote at a state level, must also have the right to vote in federal elections. The Solicitor-General, Sir Robert Garran
Robert Garran
Sir Robert Randolph Garran GCMG KC was an Australian lawyer and public servant, an early leading expert in Australian constitutional law, the first employee of the Government of Australia and the first Solicitor-General of Australia...
, interpreted it to mean that Commonwealth rights were granted only to people who were already State voters in 1902. What transpired was a situation where Aboriginals who had already enrolled to vote were able to continue to do so, whereas those who had not were denied the right. This interpretation was challenged in Victoria in 1924 by an Indian migrant, where the magistrate ruled that Section 2 meant that people who acquired State votes at any date were entitled to a Commonwealth vote. The Commonwealth government instead passed laws giving Indians the vote (There were only about 100 in Australia at the time), but continued to deny other non-white applicants.
Campaigns for indigenous rights in Australia gathered momentum from the 1930s. In 1938, with the participation of leading indigenous activists like Douglas Nicholls
Douglas Nicholls
Sir Douglas Ralph "Doug" Nicholls KCVO, OBE, was a prominent Aboriginal Australian from the Yorta Yorta people. He was a professional athlete, Churches of Christ pastor and church planter, ceremonial officer and a pioneering campaigner for reconciliation.Nicholls was the first Aboriginal person to...
, the Australian Aborigines Advancement League organised a protest "Day of Mourning" to mark the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
of British in Australia and launched its campaign for full citizenship rights for all Aborigines. In the 1940s, the conditions of life for Aborigines could be very poor. A permit system restricted movement and work opportunities for many Aboriginal people. In the 1950s, the government pursued a policy of "assimilation" which sought to achieve full citizenship rights for Aborigines but also wanted them to adopt the mode of life of other Australians (which very often was assumed to reqire suppression of cultural identity).
In the 1960s, reflecting the strong Civil rights movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
s in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, many changes in Aborigines’ rights and treatment followed, including removal of restrictions on full voting rights. The Menzies Government Commonwealth Electoral Act of 1962 confirmed the Commonwealth vote for all Aborigines. Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
gave them State votes in the same year, and Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
followed in 1965.
The 1967 referendum
Australian referendum, 1967 (Aboriginals)
The referendum of 27 May 1967 approved two amendments to the Australian constitution relating to Indigenous Australians. Technically it was a vote on the Constitution Alteration 1967, which became law on 10 August 1967 following the results of the referendum...
was held and overwhelmingly approved to amend the Constitution, removing discriminatory references and giving the national parliament the power to legislate specifically for Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
. Contrary to frequently repeated mythology, this referendum did not cover citizenship on Aboriginal people, nor did it give them the vote: they already had both. However, transferring this power away from the State parliaments
Parliaments of the Australian states and territories
The Parliaments of the Australian states and territories are legislative bodies within the federal framework of the Commonwealth of Australia. Before the formation of the Commonwealth in 1901, the six Australian colonies were self-governing, with parliaments which had come into existence at various...
did bring an end to the system of Indigenous Australian reserves which existed in each state, which allowed Indigenous people to move more freely, and exercise many of their citizenship rights for the first time. From the late 1960s a movement for Indigenous land rights
Indigenous land rights
Indigenous land rights are hangtime the rights of indigenous peoples to land, either individually or collectively. Land and resource-related rights are of fundamental importance to indigenous peoples for a range of reasons, including: the religious significance of the land, self-determination,...
also developed. In the mid 1960s, one of the earliest Aboriginal graduates from the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
, Charles Perkins, helped organise freedom rides
Freedom Ride (Australia)
The Freedom Ride of 1964 and 1965 was a significant event in the history of civil rights for Indigenous Australians.Inspired by the Freedom Riders of the American Civil Rights Movement, students from Sydney University formed a group called the Student Action for Aboriginals, led by Charles Perkins...
into parts of Australia to expose discrimination and inequality. In 1966, the Gurindji people of Wave Hill station (owned by the Vestey Group
Vestey Group
The Vestey Group is a privately owned UK group of companies, comprising an international food product business and significant cattle ranching and sugar cane farming interests in Brazil and Venezuela.-Business origins:William...
) commenced strike action led by Vincent Lingiari
Vincent Lingiari
Vincent Lingiarri, AM , was an Aboriginal rights activist who was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the Aboriginal people. Lingiarri was a member of the Gurindji people. In Vincent's earlier life he worked as a stockman at Wave Hill Cattle Station. He also played...
in a quest for equal pay and recognition of land rights.
Indigenous Australians began to take up representation in Australian parliaments during the 1970s. In 1971 Neville Bonner
Neville Bonner
Neville Thomas Bonner AO was an Australian politician, and the first indigenous Australian to become a member of the Parliament of Australia...
of the Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
was appointed by the Queensland Parliament to replace a retiring senator, becoming the first Aborigine in Federal Parliament. Bonner was returned as a Senator at the 1972 election and remained until 1983. Hyacinth Tungutalum
Hyacinth Tungutalum
Hyacinth Gabriel Tungutalum was an Australian politician. He was the Country Liberal Party member for Tiwi in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 1974 to 1977. Tungutalum was the first indigenous member of the Legislative Assembly.Tungutalum was a traditional owner on the Tiwi Islands...
of the Country Liberal Party
Country Liberal Party
The Northern Territory Country Liberal Party is a Northern Territory political party affiliated with both the National and Liberal parties...
in the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
and Eric Deeral of the National Party
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
of Queensland, became the first Indigenous people elected to territory and state legislatures in 1974. In 1976, Sir Douglas Nicholls
Douglas Nicholls
Sir Douglas Ralph "Doug" Nicholls KCVO, OBE, was a prominent Aboriginal Australian from the Yorta Yorta people. He was a professional athlete, Churches of Christ pastor and church planter, ceremonial officer and a pioneering campaigner for reconciliation.Nicholls was the first Aboriginal person to...
was appointed Governor of South Australia, becoming the first Aborigine to hold vice-regal office in Australia. Aden Ridgeway
Aden Ridgeway
Aden Derek Ridgeway , Australian politician, was a member of the Australian Senate for New South Wales, from 1999 to 2005, representing the Australian Democrats. During his term he was the only Aboriginal member of the Australian Parliament.-Early history:Ridgeway was born in Macksville, New South...
of the Australian Democrats
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
served as a senator during the 1990s, but No indigenous person was elected to the House of Representatives, until West Australian Liberal
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
Ken Wyatt
Ken Wyatt
Kenneth George Wyatt AM is a member of the Australian House of Representatives representing the electoral division of Hasluck in Western Australia for the Liberal Party of Australia...
, in August 2010.
Capital punishment abolished
The last use of the death penalty in Australia was in Victoria in 1967. Ronald Joseph RyanRonald Ryan
Ronald Joseph Ryan was the last person to be legally executed in Australia. Ryan was found guilty of shooting and killing prison officer George Hodson during a prison escape from Pentridge Prison, Victoria in 1965...
was hanged at Pentridge Prison on 3 February 1967 for the murder of a prison guard, George Hodson.
Capital punishment was officially abolished for federal offences by the Death Penalty Abolition Act 1973. The various states abolished capital punishment at various times, starting with Queensland in 1922 and ending with New South Wales in 1985.
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
are the descendants of the mainland's Aboriginal peoples and the Torres Strait Islanders
Torres Strait Islanders
Torres Strait Islanders are the indigenous people of the Torres Strait Islands, part of Queensland, Australia. They are culturally and genetically linked to Melanesian peoples and those of Papua New Guinea....
who occupied Australia prior to the arrival of British settlers
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
in 1788. Their ancestors arrived in Australia over 50,000 years ago. Though their continental population was never large, introduced disease and frontier conflict saw a decline in the indigenous population during the colonial period, though numbers have recovered and continued to increase in more recent times. Historically, many indigenous Australians were dispossessed without treaty nor compensation, and certain laws discriminated against them. In modern Australia, racial discrimination is illegal and Indigenous people have access to certain welfare and land entitlements not accessible to non-indigenous Australians. Particularly in remote regions, standards of health and education among indigenous people are often lower than amongst the general population.
Colonial conflict and dispossession (1790s-1930s)
The navigator James CookJames Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
claimed the east coast of Australia for Britain in 1770, without conducting negotiations with the Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
. The first Governor of New South Wales, Arthur Phillip
Arthur Phillip
Admiral Arthur Phillip RN was a British admiral and colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governor of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the settlement which is now the city of Sydney.-Early life and naval career:Arthur Phillip...
, was instructed explicitly to establish friendship and good relations with the Aborigines and interactions between the early newcomers and the ancient landowners varied considerably throughout the colonial period—from the mutual curiosity displayed by the early interlocutors Bennelong
Bennelong
Woollarawarre Bennelong was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia, in 1788...
and Bungaree
Bungaree
Bungaree was an Aboriginal Australian from the Broken Bay area, who was known as an explorer, entertainer, and Aboriginal community leader He became a familiar sight in colonial Sydney, dressed in a succession of military and naval uniforms that had been given to him...
of Sydney, to the outright hostility of Pemulwuy
Pemulwuy
Pemulwuy was an Aboriginal Australian man born around 1750 in the area of Botany Bay in New South Wales. He is noted for his resistance to the European settlement of Australia which began with the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. He is believed to have been a member of the Bidjigal clan of...
and Windradyne
Windradyne
Windradyne was an Aboriginal warrior and resistance leader of the Wiradjuri nation, in what is now central-western New South Wales, Australia; he was also known to the British settlers as Saturday...
of the Sydney region, and Yagan
Yagan
Yagan was an Australian Aboriginal warrior from the Noongar tribe who played a key part in early indigenous Australian resistance to British settlement and rule in the area of Perth, Western Australia. After he led a series of burglaries and robberies across the countryside, in which white...
around Perth. A combination of disease, loss of land (and thus food resources) and war reduced the Aboriginal population and the impact of Europeans was profoundly disruptive to Aboriginal life. Though the extent of violence is debated, there was conflict on the frontier. According to the historian Geoffrey Blainey
Geoffrey Blainey
Geoffrey Norman Blainey AC , is a prominent Australian historian.Blainey was born in Melbourne and raised in a series of Victorian country towns before attending Wesley College and the University of Melbourne. While at university he was editor of Farrago, the newspaper of the University of...
, in Australia during the colonial period: "In a thousand isolated places there were occasional shootings and spearings. Even worse, smallpox, measles, influenza and other new diseases swept from one Aboriginal camp to another ... The main conqueror of Aborigines was to be disease and its ally, demoralisation".
The British established a new outpost in Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land was the original name used by most Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to land on the shores of Tasmania...
(Tasmania) in 1803. Although Tasmanian history is amongst the most contested by modern historians, conflict between colonists and Aborigines was referred to in some contemporary accounts as the Black War
Black War
The Black War is a term used to describe a period of conflict between British colonists and Tasmanian Aborigines in the early nineteenth century...
. The combined effects of disease, dispossession, intermarriage and conflict saw a collapse of the Aboriginal population from a few thousand people when the British arrived, to a few hundred by the 1830s. Estimates of how many people were killed during the period begin at around 300, though verification of the true figure is now impossible.
In 1838, at least twenty-eight Aborigines were killed at Myall Creek
Myall Creek massacre
Myall Creek Massacre involved the killing of up to 30 unarmed Australian Aborigines by European settlers on 10 June 1838 at the Myall Creek near Bingara in northern New South Wales...
in New South Wales, resulting in the unprecedented conviction and hanging of seven white settlers by the colonial courts. From the 1830s, colonial governments established the now controversial offices of the Protector of Aborigines
Protector of Aborigines
The role of Protectors of Aborigines resulted from a recommendation of the report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Aborigines . On 31 January 1838, Lord Glenelg, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies sent Governor Gipps the report.The report recommended that Protectors of...
in an effort to avoid mistreatment of Indigenous peoples and conduct government policy towards them. Christian churches in Australia
Christianity in Australia
Christianity is the largest religion listed by Australians in the national census. In the 2006 Census, 63.9% of Australians were listed as Christian. Australia has no official state religion and the Australian Constitution protects freedom of religion. The presence of Christianity in Australia...
sought to convert Aborigines, and were often used by government to carry out welfare and assimilation policies. Colonial churchmen such as Sydney's first Catholic archbishop, John Bede Polding strongly advocated for Aboriginal rights and dignity and prominent Aboriginal activist Noel Pearson (born 1965), who was raised at a Lutheran mission in Cape York
Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula is a large remote peninsula located in Far North Queensland at the tip of the state of Queensland, Australia, the largest unspoilt wilderness in northern Australia and one of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth...
, has written that Christian missions throughout Australia's colonial history "provided a haven from the hell of life on the Australian frontier while at the same time facilitating colonisation".
Fighting at Coniston
Coniston massacre
The Coniston massacre, which took place from 14 August to 18 October 1928 near the Coniston cattle station, Northern Territory, Australia, was the last known massacre of Indigenous Australians. People of the Warlpiri, Anmatyerre and Kaytetye groups were killed...
in the Northern Territory in 1928 saw the last major battle on the 'frontier' of indigenous and non-indigenous Australia. The Caledon Bay crisis
Caledon Bay crisis
The Caledon Bay crisis refers to a series of killings at Caledon Bay in the Northern Territory of Australia during 1932–34. These events are widely seen as a turning point in relations between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians....
of 1932-4 saw one of the last incidents of frontier violence, which began when the spearing of Japanese poachers who had been molesting Yolngu
Yolngu
The Yolngu or Yolŋu are an Indigenous Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Yolngu means “person” in the Yolŋu languages.-Yolŋu law:...
women was followed by the killing of a policeman. As the crisis unfolded, national opinion swung behind the Aboriginal people involved, and the first appeal on behalf of an Indigenous Australian to the High Court of Australia
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
was launched. Following the crisis, the anthropologist Donald Thompson
Donald Thompson
Sir Donald Thompson was a British Conservative Party politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 1979 until 1997.Thompson attended Holy Trinity School, Halifax, and Hipperholme Grammar School...
was despatched by the government to live among the Yolngu. Elsewhere around this time, activists like Sir Douglas Nicholls
Douglas Nicholls
Sir Douglas Ralph "Doug" Nicholls KCVO, OBE, was a prominent Aboriginal Australian from the Yorta Yorta people. He was a professional athlete, Churches of Christ pastor and church planter, ceremonial officer and a pioneering campaigner for reconciliation.Nicholls was the first Aboriginal person to...
were commencing their campaigns for Aboriginal rights within the established Australian political system and the age of frontier conflict closed.
Restoration and recognition of political and land rights
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
should have the right to enrol and vote at federal elections (prior to this, indigenous people in Queensland, Western Australia and some in the Northern Territory had been excluded from voting unless they were ex-servicemen). The successor Holt Government
Holt Government
The Holt Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister Harold Holt. It was made up of members of a Liberal Party of Australia-Country Party of Australia coalition in the Australian Parliament from 26 January 1966 – 17 December 1967.- Background :The...
called the 1967 Referendum
Australian referendum, 1967 (Aboriginals)
The referendum of 27 May 1967 approved two amendments to the Australian constitution relating to Indigenous Australians. Technically it was a vote on the Constitution Alteration 1967, which became law on 10 August 1967 following the results of the referendum...
which removed the discriminatory clause in the Australian Constitution which excluded Aboriginal Australians from being counted in the census - the referendum was one of the few to be overwhelmingly endorsed by the Australian electorate (over 90% voted 'yes').
From the 1960s, Australian writers began to re-assess European assumptions about Aboriginal Australia - with works including Geoffrey Blainey's
Geoffrey Blainey
Geoffrey Norman Blainey AC , is a prominent Australian historian.Blainey was born in Melbourne and raised in a series of Victorian country towns before attending Wesley College and the University of Melbourne. While at university he was editor of Farrago, the newspaper of the University of...
landmark history Triumph of the Nomads (1975) and the books of historian Henry Reynolds
Henry Reynolds (historian)
Henry Reynolds is an eminent Australian historian whose primary work has focused on the frontier conflict between European settlement of Australia and indigenous Australians.-Education and career:...
.
The Whitlam Labor
Whitlam Government
The Whitlam Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. It was made up of members of the Australian Labor Party in the Australian Parliament from 1972 to 1975.-Background:...
and Fraser Liberal Government
Fraser Government
The Fraser Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. It was made up of members of a Liberal Party of Australia-Country Party of Australia coalition in the Australian Parliament from November 1975 to March 1983...
s instigated the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976
Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976
In Australian history, the Aboriginal Land Rights Act established the basis upon which Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory could claim rights to land based on traditional occupation. The Act was strongly based on the recommendations of Justice Woodward, who chaired the Aboriginal Land...
, which, while limited to the Northern Territory, affirmed "inalienable" freehold title to some traditional lands. In 1985, the Hawke Government returned ownership of Uluru
Uluru
Uluru , also known as Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia. It lies south west of the nearest large town, Alice Springs; by road. Kata Tjuta and Uluru are the two major features of the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park....
(formerly known as Ayers Rock) to the local Pitjantjatjara Aboriginal people. In 1992, the High Court of Australia
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
handed down its decision in the Mabo Case, declaring the previous legal concept of terra nullius to be invalid. That same year, Prime Minister Paul Keating
Paul Keating
Paul John Keating was the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1991 to 1996. Keating was elected as the federal Labor member for Blaxland in 1969 and came to prominence as the reformist treasurer of the Hawke Labor government, which came to power at the 1983 election...
said in his Redfern Park Speech
Redfern Park Speech
The Redfern Park Speech was made on 10 December 1992 by the Prime Minister of Australia, Paul Keating at Redfern Park in Redfern, New South Wales...
that European settlers were responsible for the difficulties Australian Aboriginal communities continued to face: ‘We committed the murders. We took the children from their mothers. We practiced discrimination and exclusion. It was our ignorance and our prejudice’. In 1999 Parliament passed a Motion of Reconciliation
Motion of Reconciliation
The Motion of Reconciliation was a motion to the Australian Parliament introduced on 26 August 1999. Drafted by Prime Minister John Howard in consulation with Aboriginal Senator Aden Ridgeway , it dedicated the Parliament to the "cause of reconciliation" and recognised historic maltreatment of...
drafted by Prime Minister John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
and Aboriginal Senator Aden Ridgeway
Aden Ridgeway
Aden Derek Ridgeway , Australian politician, was a member of the Australian Senate for New South Wales, from 1999 to 2005, representing the Australian Democrats. During his term he was the only Aboriginal member of the Australian Parliament.-Early history:Ridgeway was born in Macksville, New South...
naming mistreatment of Indigenous Australians as the most "blemished chapter in our national history".
Prior to the calling of a 2007 federal election, the then Prime Minister, John Howard, revisited the idea of bringing a referendum to seek recognition of Indigenous Australians in the Constitution (his government first sought to include recognition of Aboriginal peoples in the Preamble to the Constitution in a 1999 referendum). The Labor opposition initially supported the idea, however Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
withdrew this support just prior to the election.
Notable contemporary indigenous rights campaigners have included: federal politicians Aden Ridgeway
Aden Ridgeway
Aden Derek Ridgeway , Australian politician, was a member of the Australian Senate for New South Wales, from 1999 to 2005, representing the Australian Democrats. During his term he was the only Aboriginal member of the Australian Parliament.-Early history:Ridgeway was born in Macksville, New South...
and Ken Wyatt
Ken Wyatt
Kenneth George Wyatt AM is a member of the Australian House of Representatives representing the electoral division of Hasluck in Western Australia for the Liberal Party of Australia...
, lawyer Noel Pearson; academic Marcia Langton
Marcia Langton
Marcia Lynne Langton is one of Australia's leading Aboriginal scholars. She holds the Foundation Chair in Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne, Australia...
; and Australians of the Year
Australian of the Year
Since 1960 the Australian of the Year Award has been part of the celebrations surrounding Australia Day , during which time the award has grown steadily in significance to become Australia’s pre-eminent award. The Australian of the Year announcement has become a very prominent part of the annual...
Lowitja O'Donoghue
Lowitja O'Donoghue
Ms Lowitja "Lois" O'Donoghue, AC, CBE, DSG is an Aboriginal Australian retired public administrator.She was named Australian of the Year in 1984 and 1990, and was inaugural chairperson of the now dissolved Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission .-Personal life:Lowitja O'Donoghue was the...
(1984), Mandawuy Yunupingu
Mandawuy Yunupingu
Mandawuy Yunupingu , born 17 September 1956, is an Aboriginal Australian musician, most notable for being the front man of the band Yothu Yindi.-Early life:...
(1992) , Cathy Freeman
Cathy Freeman
Catherine Astrid Salome "Cathy" Freeman, OAM is former Australian sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event. She became the Olympic champion for the women's 400 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics, at which she lit the Olympic Flame.Freeman was the first ever Aboriginal...
(1998) and Mick Dodson
Mick Dodson
Professor Michael James "Mick" Dodson, AM is an indigenous Australian leader, a member of the Yawuru peoples in the Broome area of the southern Kimberley region of Western Australia. His brother is Patrick Dodson, also a noted Aboriginal leader.Following his parents' death, he boarded at Monivae...
(2009).
Stolen generations
'Stolen Generation' is the term controversially used to mean the AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n Aboriginal children who were removed from their families by Australian government agencies and church
Christian Church
The Christian Church is the assembly or association of followers of Jesus Christ. The Greek term ἐκκλησία that in its appearances in the New Testament is usually translated as "church" basically means "assembly"...
missions between approximately 1900 and 1972.
The nature of the removals, their extent, and its effects on those removed, is a topic of considerable dispute and political debate within Australia.
According to a government inquiry on the topic, at least 30,000 children were removed from their parents and the figure may be substantially higher (the report notes that formal records of removals were very poorly kept). Percentage estimates were given that 10–30% of all Aboriginal children born during the seventy year period were removed.
On 13 February 2008, Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
as well as the Leader of the Opposition, Brendan Nelson
Brendan Nelson
Dr Brendan John Nelson is a former Australian politician and former federal Opposition leader. He served as a member of the Australian House of Representatives from the 1996 federal election until 19 October 2009 as the Liberal member for Bradfield, a northern Sydney seat...
, delivered an official apology on behalf of the Parliament of Australia to the Stolen Generations:
"For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry," To the mothers and fathers, the brothers and sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry. "And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry."
Northern Territory Emergency Response
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
and Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough
Mal Brough
Malcolm Thomas "Mal" Brough is a former Australian politician and Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1996 to November 2007, representing the Division of Longman, Queensland...
launched the Northern Territory National Emergency Response
Northern Territory National Emergency Response
The Northern Territory National Emergency Response was a package of changes to welfare provision, law enforcement, land tenure and other measures, introduced by the Australian federal government under John Howard in 2007 to address claims of rampant child sexual abuse and neglect in Northern...
. In response to the Little Children are Sacred
Little Children are Sacred
Little Children are Sacred is the report of a Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse commissioned by the government of the Northern Territory, Australia, was publicly released on 15 June 2007...
Report into allegations of child abuse among indigenous communities in the Territory, the government banned alcohol in prescribed communities in the Northern Territory; quarantined a percentage of welfare payments for essential goods purchasing; despatched additional police and medical personnel to the region; and suspended the permit system for access to indigenous communities. The policy was largely maintained under the Rudd
Rudd Government
The Rudd Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia of the Australian Labor Party from 2007 to 2010, led by Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister. The Rudd Government commenced on 3 December 2007, when Rudd was sworn in along with his ministry...
and Gillard Government
Gillard Government
The Gillard Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia, which is led by the Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard. Julia Gillard became Prime Minister on the 24th of June 2010 after challenging her predecessor, Kevin Rudd for the position of leader of the parliamentary...
s.
The Intervention has been controversial. It was initially exempted from the Racial Discrimination Act 1975
Racial Discrimination Act 1975
The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 is a statute passed by the Australian Parliament during the Prime Ministership of Labor Gough Whitlam....
. It entails restrictions on alcohol and kava
Kava
Kava or kava-kava is a crop of the western Pacific....
, a ban on pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
, the compulsory acquisition of townships currently held under the title provisions of the Native Title Act 1993
Native Title Act 1993
The Native Title Act of 1993 provides for determinations of native title in Australia. The Act was passed by the Keating Labor Government in response to the High Court's decision in Mabo v Queensland...
through five year leases with compensation on a basis other than just terms. (The number of settlements involved remains unclear.), the suspension of the permit system, the quarantining of a proportion of welfare benefits to all recipients in the designated communities and of all benefits of those who neglect their children, and the abolition of the Community Development Employment Program (CDEP).
Health
Most indigenous Australians live in either major cities, inner or outer regional areas of Australia, with 26.5% of Indigenous peoples living in remote or very remote areas. The health of indigenous Australians is significantly below that of the rest of the country for instance a 2006 study by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare showed that 70% of the Aboriginal population, who number almost 500,000, die before the age of 65, compared with 20% of non-indigenous Australians. The average life expectancy for Aboriginal men is 59, compared with 77 for non-indigenous males with child mortality rates 3 times higher than the nation average.The suicide rate amongst Aboriginal Australians is almost 3 times higher (at 4.2%) than the national average (1.5%).
The most common causes of death among the adult population are diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Indigenous people suffer from a rate of death from many diseases multiple times the rate of non-indigenous people according to a 2006 report by the Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission.
Life Expectancy
Over the twentieth century in Australia, life expectancy for women increased 26.7 years; while for males it increased 28.7 years. Other statistics show remarkable reductions in the impact of diseases. For example, death rates from cardiovascular disease have fallen 30% in the general population in Australia since 1991, and 70% in the last 35-years and the infant mortality rate figure reduced 25% over 1993 - 2003 and 48% over 1983 - 2003. These statistics demonstrate that significant improvements in the health and life expectation of population groups can occur within decades.However, despite significant health gains being made by Indigenous peoples in the 1970s and 1980s, health inequality continues to grow across a number of indicators. This can be attributed, in part, to both a slowing up of health gains being made by Indigenous peoples and the rapid health gains made by the non-Indigenous population in recent decades.
Indigenous peoples' self-assessed health status shows they believe little improvement has occurred over the past decade. Over the NATSIS 1994 - NATSISS 2002, the percentage of Indigenous peoples assessing their health as 'fair/poor' rose from 17.5% to 23.3%. Correspondingly, there was no statistically significant increase in the number who assessed their health as 'excellent/very good' or reported reductions in smoking; or alcohol consumption.
The ABS has estimated that the life expectation for Indigenous females decreased slightly from 63 to 62.8 years over 1997 - 2001. For males, it increased from 55.6 to 56.3 years. The life expectation inequality gap increased: between Indigenous and non-Indigenous males: rising from 20.6 to 20.7 years; while between Indigenous and non-Indigenous females, it rose from 18.8 to 19.6 years. The life expectation formula that was used to produce these estimates has now been superseded by a formula that produces an estimate over five year periods.
Under a new life expectation formula adopted by the ABS in 2003, Indigenous males' life expectation was estimated to be 59.4 years over 1996-2001, while female life expectation was estimated to be 64.8 years. A life expectation inequality gap of approximately 18-years was identified, a reduction of approximately three years on estimates produced in 2001 under the now superseded formula. The next estimate will be calculated over 2001 - 2006.
Indigenous life expectation appears to be similar to that of people in low development states. Although international comparisons should be made with some caution (because of the different formulae with which life expectation is calculated between jurisdictions), with reference to the 2004 United Nation's Human Development Index, Indigenous peoples appear to have a life expectation approximating that of the people of Pakistan (60.8 years).
Immigration and asylum seekers
Australia is an immigrant nation with a large and longstanding multi-ethnic migration program. Australia's immigration program has two components: a program for skilled and family migrants and a humanitarian program for refugees and asylum seekers.White Australia policy (c.1890s to 1960s)
The White Australia policy, the policy of limiting immigration into Australia to only people of European origin, was the official policy of all governments and all mainstream political parties in AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
from the 1890s to the 1950s, and elements of the policy survived until the 1970s. Although the expression “White Australia Policy” was never in official use, it was common in political and public debate throughout the period.
The Immigration Restriction Act 1901
Immigration Restriction Act 1901
The Immigration Restriction Act 1901 was an Act of the Parliament of Australia which limited immigration to Australia and formed the basis of the White Australia policy. It also provided for illegal immigrants to be deported. It granted immigration officers a wide degree of discretion to prevent...
was one of the first laws passed by the new Australian parliament
Parliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...
. The law permitted a dictation test in any European language to be used to in effect exclude non-"white" immigrants. Parliament generally supported the restrictions on the basis of various rationales from labour force protection to outright racism. Outside parliament, figures like Australia's first Catholic cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
, Patrick Francis Moran denounced anti-Chinese legislation as "unchristian", but was mocked in the popular press and the small European population of Australia generally supported the legislation and remained fearful of being overwhelmed by an influx of non-British migrants from the vastly different cultures of the highly populated empires to Australia's north.
The policy was dismantled by successive governments after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, with the Chifley Government
Chifley Government
The Chifley Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister Ben Chifley. It was made up of members of the Australian Labor Party in the Australian Parliament from 1945 to 1949.-Background:...
pursuing a "populate or perish" migration program which initially favoured British migrants, but increasingly reached out to Southern and Eastern European migrants under the Menzies Government, which] in 1958, replaced the Immigration Act's arbitrarily applied European language dictation test with an entry permit system, that reflected economic and skills criteria. The successor Holt Government
Holt Government
The Holt Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister Harold Holt. It was made up of members of a Liberal Party of Australia-Country Party of Australia coalition in the Australian Parliament from 26 January 1966 – 17 December 1967.- Background :The...
introduced the Migration Act 1966, which effectively dismantled the White Australia Policy and increased access to non-European migrants, including refugees fleeing the Vietnam War. The subsequent Whitlam Government
Whitlam Government
The Whitlam Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. It was made up of members of the Australian Labor Party in the Australian Parliament from 1972 to 1975.-Background:...
and Fraser Government
Fraser Government
The Fraser Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. It was made up of members of a Liberal Party of Australia-Country Party of Australia coalition in the Australian Parliament from November 1975 to March 1983...
then shifted immigration policy to a position of official support for multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
. The subsequent Hawke-Keating Government and Howard Government
Howard Government
The Howard Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Howard. It was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition, which won a majority of seats in the Australian House of Representatives at four successive elections. The Howard Government...
continued the policy of large multiethnic migration. And by the early 21st century, post war immigration had seen 6.5 million migrants from 200 nations arrive in Australia, bringing immense new diversity and Australians grew increasingly aware of proximity to Asia.
Assistance to refugees
A component of the Australian immigration program is devoted to providing protection for refugees: people who are subject to persecution in their own home country and are in need of resettlement. The majority of refugees received by Australia are identified and referred by the UNHCR to Australia. The Special Humanitarian Program further offers refuge to subject to people "substantial discrimination amounting to gross violation of human rights in their home country" and who are supported by a proposer within Australia. In 2009–10 a total of 13 770 visas were granted under these categories. The annual figure remained roughly stable for the years between 2004–2010 and accepted applicants from such nations as Burma, Iraq, Bhutan, Afghanistan and six African countries. To varying degrees of success, recent Australian governments have sought to discourage unauthorised arrivals by people seeking refugee status in Australia by maintaining a system of "mandatory detention" for processing of people who arrive without a visa.Mandatory detention
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
, including children. The policy started under the Keating Labor Government with the passing of the Migration Amendment Act in 1992. The immigration minister, Gerry Hand
Gerry Hand
Gerard Leslie Hand is a former Australian politician, who was a Labor member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the seat of Melbourne...
, explained that the policy, to be applied on a case-by-case basis would facilitate the processing of refugee claims, prevent de facto migration and save the cost of locating people in the community. However the Migration Reform Act of 1994 introduced by the next immigration minister, Senator Nick Bolkus
Nick Bolkus
Nick Bolkus is a former Australian Labor Party politician. He was a member of the Senate from July 1981 to 2005, representing the state of South Australia.-Early career:...
, made the detention of 'unlawful non-citizens' mandatory.
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, these unauthorised arrivals, popularly referred to as boat people
Boat people
Boat people is a term that usually refers to refugees, illegal immigrants or asylum seekers who emigrate in numbers in boats that are sometimes old and crudely made...
, were transferred to one of the Australian immigration detention facilities
Australian immigration detention facilities
Australian immigration detention facilities comprise a number of different facilities throughout Australia and one on the Australian territory of Christmas Island. They are used to house people who are detained under Australia’s policy of mandatory detention and previously under the now defunct...
on the Australian mainland, or to Manus Island
Manus Island
Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km², measuring around 100 km × 30 km. According to the 2000 census, Manus Island had a...
or Nauru
Nauru
Nauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, to the east. Nauru is the world's smallest republic, covering just...
as part of the Pacific Solution
Pacific Solution
The Pacific Solution was the name given to the Australian government policy of transporting asylum seekers to detention camps on small island nations in the Pacific Ocean, rather than allowing them to land on the Australian mainland...
.
Suspension of Asylum Claims: Sri Lanka and Afghanistan
On 9 April 2010 the Australian government announced the immediate suspension of consideration of all new asylum claims in respect of people from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention
The then HREOC held an inquiry into mandatory detention and found that many basic rights outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the ChildConvention on the Rights of the Child
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a human rights treaty setting out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children...
were denied to children living in immigration detention.
The Inquiry has found that Australian laws that require the mandatory, indeterminate and effectively unreviewable immigration detention of children, and the way these laws are administered by the Commonwealth, have resulted in numerous and repeated breaches of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Inquiry made a range of specific findings in relation to:
- monitoring of conditions in detention centres
- Australia's detention laws and policy
- Australia's refugee status determination system as it applies to children
- safety and security
- mental health
- physical health
- children with disabilities
- education
- recreation and play
- unaccompanied children
- religion, culture and languages
- temporary protection visas.
These specific findings, based on evidence received by the Inquiry, were assessed against Australia's human rights obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. From this, the Inquiry reached its major findings and recommendations.
The 2011 Legal situation regarding the recognition of relationships in Australia
| De facto relationships status | Registered relationships status | Anti-discrimination legislation | Adoption and foster parenting | Recognition of parents on birth certificate | Access to fertility (such as ART, IVF, surrogacy, AI, etc.) | |
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| ACT Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory... |
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| New South Wales New South Wales New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales... |
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| Norfolk Island Norfolk Island Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance... |
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| Northern Territory Northern Territory The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions... |
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| Queensland Queensland Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean... |
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| South Australia South Australia South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland... |
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| Tasmania Tasmania Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart... |
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| Victoria Victoria (Australia) Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively.... |
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| Western Australia Western Australia Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east... |
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External links
- The Australian Human Rights Commission website
- Australian Human Rights and Civil Rights Index
- Censorship in Australia - (IFEXInternational Freedom of Expression ExchangeThe International Freedom of Expression eXchange , founded in 1992, is a global network of around 90 non-governmental organisations that promotes and defends the right to freedom of expression....
) - List of Australia's human rights violations
- NSW Council for Civil Liberties
- Douglas Scott Case
- National Human Rights Consultation