Human rights are far from enshrined in Australia

Your editorial (20-21/3: We were right to go to war against Iraq) says that Australia is a secular democracy that enshrines human rights rather than the rule of a specific religion.

This claim is misleading in at least two ways . First there is the specious implication that a state under ‘the rule of a specific religion’ cannot at the same time recognise and respect human rights. More relevantly to Australia is the misconceived idea that Australian democracy ‘enshrines human rights’.

Human rights are far from enshrined in Australia. They have no formal status, and have a very uncertain status in public policy. Yes, the situation is worse in many other countries, but that is no reason to be glib about our own situation.

None of our various constitutions, State and Federal, contains any express guarantee of human rights. Our Prime Minister has foreshadowed acting to undermine the ACT’s Human Rights Act, the first guarantee of human rights by an Australian Parliament. The Federal Government proposes winding back laws that give effect to the human right of non-discrimination. Anti-terrorism laws overstep the balance between individual liberty and public safety.

Simon Rice
President
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights

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This page last updated 4th May 2004