{"title":"Concerning trends on Australia's compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights","authors":"Anika Baset","doi":"10.1080/1323238x.2023.2267161","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1323238x.2023.2267161","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACTIn 2023, the United Nations Committee Economic, Social and Cultural Rights will review Australia's compliance with the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). There have been a number of concerning trends in relation to the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights in Australia since Australia's fifth report to the Committee on 1 February 2016: growing economic inequality exacerbated by a cost-of-living crisis, a lack of meeting Closing the Gap targets for Indigenous Australians, a housing crisis and the Australian government's use of unlawful technology against recipients of social security. Far from meeting its obligations under ICESCR, multiple governments have shown a lack of respect for upholding these rights, leaving Australia without the adequate guarantee of economic, social and cultural rights that should be expected in an industrialised, wealthy economy.KEYWORDS: ICESCReconomic and social rightsAustraliaUnited Nations AcknowledgmentsI’d like to thank Dr. Allison Henry and Dr. Joanna Kyriakakis for their thoughtful comments on earlier versions of this paper. I’d also like to thank James Barklamb for his support and encouragement.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Notes1 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, opened for signature 16 December 1966, 993 UNTS 3 (entered into force 3 January 1976).2 United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of Australia, UN Doc E/C.12/AUS/CO/5 (23 June 2017).3 The Australia Institute, Inequality on Steroids: Who Benefits from Economic Growth in Australia (Report, April 2023).4 Ibid 1.5 Ibid 7.6 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, International Comparisons of Welfare Data, <https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/international-comparisons-of-welfare-data> accessed 8 August 2023.7 Australian Council of Social Services and the University of New South Wales, Poverty in Australia in 2023: Who is Affected (Report, 2023) 8.8 Ibid.9 Ibid.10 Ibid.11 Ibid 12.12 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, An Evaluation of the Obligation to Take Steps to the “Maximum of Available Resources” under an Optional Protocol to the Covenant, UN Doc E/C.12/38/CRP.1) (13 April 2007).13 United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (n 2) 8.14 Ibid 6.15 National Agreement on Closing the Gap, signed July 2020 <https://www.closingthegap.gov.au/national-agreement/national-agreement-closing-the-gap>.16 Australian Productivity Commission, Closing the Gap Annual Data Compilation Report July 2023, (Report, July 2023).17 Ibid 50.18 Ibid 62.19 Ibid 66.20 Ibid 70.21 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, NATSIL analysis of the Federal Budget 2022 (Report, 2022) 1.22 National Indigenous Times, Aboriginal Legal Services Face Freezes across the Country in Funding Crisis, (online, 1","PeriodicalId":37430,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Human Rights","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136013846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Illusions of accountability: the tertiary education quality and standards agency’s regulation of sexual violence in Australian university settings","authors":"Allison Henry","doi":"10.1080/1323238x.2023.2265559","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1323238x.2023.2265559","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACTThe issue of sexual assault and sexual harassment in Australian university settings has received heightened attention in recent years. Despite efforts to strengthen institutional responses, national survey data suggests that efforts by the Australian university sector and the national higher education regulator, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), have failed to reduce the incidence of sexual assault and sexual harassment, increase student awareness of university policies, improve reporting rates, enhance complainant satisfaction with university responses, or achieve institutional accountability and transparency in the management and prevention of campus-based sexual violence. These institutional and regulatory failings adversely impact on Australian university students’ right to education. Drawing on my doctoral research, this article examines the role of TEQSA in oversighting university efforts to prevent and respond to sexual assault and sexual harassment following the release of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s landmark 2017 Change the Course report. Reflecting on the agency’s regulatory interventions over the past six years, the article suggests that any ongoing role for TEQSA in relation to campus-based sexual violence needs to be carefully considered.KEYWORDS: Campus-based sexual violenceAustralian universitiesTertiary Education Quality and Standards Agencyregulationaccountabilitytransparency AcknowledgementsThe author would like to thank the participants of her doctoral research and the AJHR editors for their feedback on this article. The author's PhD research was supported by a UNSW Faculty of Law & Justice PhD Scholarship.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 Department of Education, ‘Australian Universities Accord’, Australian Government (Web Page) <https://www.education.gov.au/australian-universities-accord> accessed 19 September 2023.2 The Hon Jason Clare MP (Minister for Education), ‘Higher Education Support Amendment (Response to the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report) Bill 2023’ (Speech, 3 August 2023) <https://ministers.education.gov.au/clare/higher-education-support-amendment-response-australian-universities-accord-interim-report>.3 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, opened for signature 19 December 1966, 993 UNTS 3 (entered into force 3 January 1976); International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, opened for signature 19 December 1966, 999 UNTS 171 (entered into force 23 March 1976); Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, opened for signature 1 March 1980, 1249 UNTS 13 (entered into force 3 September 1981) (CEDAW).4 Criminal Code 1899 (Qld) s 349; Crimes Act 1900 (ACT) s 54; Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) s 61I; Criminal Code 1913 (WA) s 325; Criminal Code Act 1924 (Tas) s 185; Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA) s 4; Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) s 38; Criminal Co","PeriodicalId":37430,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Human Rights","volume":"29 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136211477","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Author's reply to book review","authors":"Eric Heinze","doi":"10.1080/1323238x.2023.2261170","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1323238x.2023.2261170","url":null,"abstract":"\"Author's reply to book review.\" Australian Journal of Human Rights, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), pp. 1–2This article responds to:The most human right: why free speech is everything","PeriodicalId":37430,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Human Rights","volume":"59 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135197539","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A human right to daily access to fresh air beyond prisons in Australia?","authors":"Laura Grenfell, Anita Mackay, Meribah Rose","doi":"10.1080/1323238x.2023.2254538","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1323238x.2023.2254538","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACTThis article considers the international standard of daily access to fresh air, set out by the Mandela Rules/UN Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, and whether it applies beyond prisons in Australia. This standard is part of the obligation to treat all those deprived of their liberty humanely, which is set out in Article 10 of the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights. The article reveals the extent to which this standard is currently reflected in corrections legislation across Australian jurisdictions. It analyses recent Australian cases/investigations relating to access to fresh air in prison settings, as well as the investigations/inquiries into the treatment of travellers in hotel quarantine and residents of public housing towers as part of government COVID-19 measures. The article draws on international jurisprudence designed to guide Australian lawmakers and policymakers in setting detention conditions. It notes that Australia is commencing a detention monitoring scheme under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture which requires that inspectors use human rights-based standards.KEYWORDS: DetentionMandela Ruleshumane treatmentcruel, inhuman and degrading treatmentfresh airhotel quarantine Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 UN Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (1st) Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners UN Doc. A/CONF.6/1 (22 August–3 September 1955), 67. These rules were updated in 2015, which is discussed later in the article.2 During the pandemic, poor ventilation in residential aged care facilities was also raised as a concern. See Geoff Hanmer and Bruce Milthorpe, ‘Poor Ventilation May Be Adding to Nursing Homes’ COVID-19 risks’ The Conversation (Melbourne, 20 August 2020) <https://theconversation.com/poor-ventilation-may-be-adding-to-nursing-homes-covid-19-risks-144725> accessed 27 January, 2023. At various times during the pandemic, all residents of these facilities have arguably been de jure deprived of their liberty due to lockdown laws imposed by state and federal governments. See generally Sara Dehm, Claire Loughnan and Linda Steele, ‘COVID-19 and Sites of Confinement: Public Health, Disposable Lives and Legal Accountability in Immigration detention and Aged Care’ (2021) 44 UNSWLJ 59-102.Where residents in these facilities are under guardianship orders, they are living under de jure detention, while some other residents are de facto detained via the often unlawful use of restraints. Where windows and doors in these facilities are secured, residents with limited mobility and those persons living in locked units are less likely to be able to access fresh air, especially at times of staff shortages. Federal aged care legislation does not regulate indoor air quality in these settings and it does not stipulate that residents enjoy a right to access fresh air. While Standards scheduled","PeriodicalId":37430,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Human Rights","volume":"3 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136129868","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How Australian fashion brands implement human rights due diligence","authors":"Andrea Shabrokh, Carolina Quintero Rodriguez","doi":"10.1080/1323238x.2023.2250597","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1323238x.2023.2250597","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":37430,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Human Rights","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43263085","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Protecting intersex people from harmful practices in medical settings: a new benchmark in the Australian Capital Territory","authors":"Morgan Carpenter","doi":"10.1080/1323238x.2023.2247863","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1323238x.2023.2247863","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":37430,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Human Rights","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47426181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"In conversation: the crime of gender persecution at the International Criminal Court","authors":"Adrienne Ringin","doi":"10.1080/1323238x.2023.2238384","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1323238x.2023.2238384","url":null,"abstract":"On 1 March 2023, International Criminal Court (ICC) Special Advisor on Gender Persecution, Professor Lisa Davis, joined Dr. Rosemary Grey at the University of Sydney to discuss the recently released Policy on the Crime of Gender Persecution. The conversation explored the creation of the Policy, including the historical deficit that led to its need. Touching on the current cases before the ICC, Davis and Grey also contemplated the charge of the crime of gender persecution in potential future cases before the ICC or other jurisdictions. Reflecting upon the conversation, this article considers the practical, ideological and legal implications of the Policy as well as offers commentary on the potential challenges and future prospects as the crime of gender persecution is utilised.","PeriodicalId":37430,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Human Rights","volume":"33 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136000141","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The most human right: why free speech is everything","authors":"R. Tambunan, Citra Lidiawati","doi":"10.1080/1323238x.2023.2238379","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1323238x.2023.2238379","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":37430,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Human Rights","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42846498","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Intersectionality and human rights law","authors":"Almas Shaikh","doi":"10.1080/1323238x.2023.2207211","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1323238x.2023.2207211","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":37430,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Human Rights","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42416527","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Neurotechnology and human rights: developments overseas and the challenge for Australia","authors":"A. McCay","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.4464871","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4464871","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Recent neurotechnological advancements have attracted the attention of human rights scholars, national legislatures and organisations such as the United Nations Human Rights Council. Debate is taking place about whether domestic and international frameworks require modification to address the emerging issues. However, in Australia there is little work focussing on such challenges. This paper outlines what neurotechnology is and draws attention to international developments before arguing that Australian scholars and human rights bodies should address neurotechnology. It concludes by identifying ways that this might be done.","PeriodicalId":37430,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Human Rights","volume":"29 1","pages":"160 - 166"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43465978","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}