Australia Bids for a Seat on the UN Human Rights Council

Monday 26 October 2015 @ 1.02 p.m. | Legal Research

On 19 October 2015, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced in a press release that Australia would be bidding for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council from the period of 2018 to 2022.

What is the UN Human Rights Council?

According to the UN Human Rights Council website, it is "an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them. It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year. It meets at the UN Office at Geneva."

The 47 seats on the UN Human Rights Council are divided between the five official UN regions in the following way: Africa (13); Asia (13); Latin America and the Caribbean (8); Western Europe and Other (7); Eastern Europe (6). Australia is in the Western Europe and Other Group, known as WEOG. One third of the Council is elected every year by the UN General Assembly, and members serve three-year terms. No member may serve more than two consecutive terms. A member can also be suspended from the Council upon a vote of two thirds of the UN General Assembly.

The UN Human Rights Council observes member states through a process of Special Procedures - usually, independent human rights experts with mandates to report and advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific perspective. The system of Special Procedures is a central element of the United Nations human rights machinery and covers all human rights: civil, cultural, economic, political, and social. As of 27 March 2015 there are 41 thematic and 14 country mandates.

Australia and the UN

Australia is seeking a three-year term from 2018. It is competing with France and Spain for two WEOG seats.

Australia’s own human rights record will be of relevance to States in deciding how to vote. According to the Media Release by the Attorney General on 19 October 2015:

"We have, I believe with success, enlarged the scope and focus of the Australian Human Rights Commission so that it is no longer merely an anti-discrimination commission, but a commission whose role is to be the trustee of all human rights, including importantly, but not exclusively, the right to freedom from discrimination. We have encouraged renewed debate in Australia about the civil and political rights. Only last month I received a report from the Australian Law Reform Commission which reviewed the entire Commonwealth statutes against a benchmark of compliance with traditional common law rights and liberties. We have, as Minister Bishop has said, been active in the international arena in relation to many human rights causes, in particular our campaign against the death penalty and the promotion of the economic and social rights of women and girls."

However, Australia's human rights record is far from being a "model global citizen". As stated by The Conversation:

"Australia does choose to co-operate on many human rights issues, ranging from constructive participation in UN Human Rights Council discussions, to contributing funds to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the conduct of human rights dialogues with neighbouring states.

On occasions, however, Australia chooses not to co-operate, such as declining to give effect to the UN Human Rights Committee’s view that a human rights violation should be remedied, not adopting international human rights treaties, opposing a UN Human Rights Council resolution to establish a war crimes inquiry after the Sri Lankan civil war, and rejecting the legitimacy of the UN’s views on human rights in Australia."

Some of the areas where Australia's human rights may be lacking, according to The Conversation, include:

Border Force Laws Criticised by the Australian Human Rights Commission;
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Report in 2012 condemning Australia's attempts to comprehensively work to cover children under both State and Federal laws in a similar way;
According to Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2015 (released by international NGO's), Australia's counterterrorism laws have been claimed to infringe on the basic rights of all Australians; and
Migration Law changes removing procedural rights to appeal.

Although Australia has been seen to co-operate with the UN for most procedural matters, it will be the substantive compliance which governs the success of its bid for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council in 2018.

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