When is the Australian Human Rights Commission not a Human Rights Commission?
- Details
- Category: Uncategorised
- Created: Wednesday, 04 June 2014 17:14
- Written by Alecomm2
Answer : When it refuses to investigate breaches of human rights.
The Australian Human Rights Commission states "We investigate and resolve complaints of discrimination and breaches of human rights. You can make a complaint no matter where you live in Australia. Our service is free, impartial and informal."
However a little further down the page it gives a very clear description of what you can complain about, and that is :
What can I complain about? [Apparently not much].
The Australian Human Rights Commission can investigate and resolve complaints of discrimination, harassment and bullying based on a person’s:
- sex, including pregnancy, marital or relationship status (including same-sex de facto couples) status, breastfeeding, family responsibilities, sexual harassment, gender identity, intersex status and sexual orientation
- disability, including temporary and permanent disabilities; physical, intellectual, sensory, psychiatric disabilities, diseases or illnesses; medical conditions; work related injuries; past, present and future disabilities; and association with a person with a disability
- race, including colour, descent, national or ethnic origin, immigrant status and racial hatred
- age, covering young people and older people
- sexual preference, criminal record, trade union activity, political opinion, religion or social origin (in employment only)
And way down the bottom they say they "can" investigate human rights breaches. Though we are yet to see this happen at all - and the case of Emily Brown - the young girl kidnapped by the NSW Government and kept in residential facilities for profit is a perfect example.
Another perfect example would be the fact that the conciliation register has not one mention of any conciliations between parties of alleged human rights breaches. This should give you a good idea just how much the Australian Human Rights Commission cares about human rights.
On a final note, whilst the services of the Australian Human Rights Commission are free, impartial and informal - don't expect to get any real issues sorted out that relate to human rights violations by the state. And for those of you interested (and obviously abused) we do have a system where you can file complaints direct to the United Nations - just click here. In the coming months we will also be expanding our UN System to incorporate the child's right to complain about human rights violations - which Australia is current refusing to ratify.
