NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANISATION FORUM ON DOMESTIC HUMAN RIGHTS

ATTORNEY-GENERAL
HON ROBERT McCLELLAND MP
NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANISATION FORUM ON DOMESTIC HUMAN RIGHTS 
CANBERRA
FRIDAY, 14 AUGUST 2009
 
First, may I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we meet o and pay my respects to their elders, both past and present.
 
It is a great pleasure to be here this morning and to welcome you all to this annual Forum.  It is good to see you again  much has happened since we met in June last year.
 
At the outset, I would like to acknowledge the valuable contribution that you continue to make in our community on a range of issues.
 
The Rudd Government is committed to building a socially inclusive society which values all of its members.
 
Your active participation to advocate in a range of areas contributes to building a more inclusive community.
 
The emphasis of our social inclusion agenda is on reducing disadvantage; increasing social, civil and economic participation; and building on the strengths of individuals, families, communities and cultures.
 
I understand you have already heard from my colleague, Senator Ursula Stephens, this morning on the Governmes social inclusion agenda.
 
As Attorney-General, I believe that the protection and promotion of human rights is integral to achieving this agenda.
 
National Human Rights Consultation
 
At the outset, the starting point for any discussion about human rights is a relevant, effective human rights framework.

That is why the Rudd Government launched a national consultation last year into how best to promote and protect human rights.
 
That process is now almost complete and has created considerable interest in the community.
 
The independent Committee received around 35,000 written submissions and met with more than 6,000 people at community roundtables across Australia.
 
I understand that this process may have generated the most interest in a community consultation in  Australias history.
 
I thank all of you who contributed your views to the consultation.
 
Father Brennan will give you an overview of the consultation process later today. 
Without pre-empting his discussion, my general observation is that the consultation process has provided a great opportunity to hear from a range of people in our community.
 
It has also shown that irrespective of peopls views on how best to protect rights, there is at least agreement that human rights should be protected.
 
The Committees report is due with me at the end of September.   I look forward to receiving the report and I am confident that it will provide a useful guide to ensure the ongoing protection of rights into the future.
 
Recent Achievements in Human Rights
 

In the meantime, the Rudd Government has been working on a number of fronts in the area of human rights. And today provides a good opportunity to update you on a range of developments.   
 
I can say that we are pleased with whats been achieved however, there is still more to be accomplished.
 
My comments this morning are as much about where wre headed as they are the changes wve implemented.

Same-Sex Reforms

I am pleased to report that since we met, the Governmens package of same sex reforms has been implemented.
 
The Rudd Government believes that all people are entitled to respect, equality, dignity and the opportunity to participate in society free of hatred or harassment and receive the protection of the law regardless of their sexuality or gender identity.
 
Discrimination against same-sex couples and their children arising under 84 Commonwealth laws has now been removed.
 
These laws include social security, taxation, Medicare, veteran affairs, workers compensation, education assistance, superannuation, family law and child support laws.
 
Same-sex couples now have the same entitlements and obligations as opposite-sex de facto couples.
And they and their children are now recognised under Commonwealth law.
 
And we will continue to encourage States and Territories to implement a nationally consistent framework that provides for the official recognition of relationships.

Disability Reforms

I know that within this widely drawn audience, many of you advocate for people with disability.
 
The Governmens objective is to ensure that people with disability have the same opportunities as others in the community.
 
At the broader level, my ministerial colleagues Jenny Macklin and Bill Shorten are working hard to progress the new National Disability Strategy.
 
This will be one of the keys for the effective delivery of support and direction for disability policy and highlight disability issues generally.
 
In my portfolio, I am pleased to report that a number of projects to advance the rights of people with disabilities have been completed or progressed substantially since we last met.
 
In June, the Disability Discrimination and Other Human Rights Legislation Amendment Bill was passed.
 
This Bill included a number of amendments to improve the overall workability of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.
 
For example, the Act now clarifies what arereasonable adjustmen to be made to assist people with disability where they need to access services or facilities, to undertake study or to work.
 
Employers, service providers and governments all have a positive duty to adjust their practices or environments to take account of a perss impairment.
 
Again, the adjustments sought are reasonabl they are not required where they would impose an unjustifiable hardship.
 
Disability Standards for Access to Premises
 
The Government has also been progressing the development of Disability Standards for Access to Premises.
 

Last year, draft Standards were tabled, and Minister Carr and I referred these to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs for consideration. Again, I know that a number of organisations here made submissions to the Inquiry and I thank you for that.
 
Our objective has been to introduce consistent and enforceable building access standards and to create certainty for building owners and managers.
 
The Committee has recently reported on the draft Standards, confirming the appropriateness of our proposals, and recommending that the Standards be finalised without delay.
 
The Government is conscious that these Standards have been in the making for a number of years and is giving active consideration to the Committees recommendations.
 
Minister Carr and I are keen to finalise this process and table the finalised standards in Parliament as soon as possible.
 
In addition to progressing work on the Premises Standards, both Minister Albanese and I are also keen to see progress on the review of Standards for Accessible Public Transport which commenced some time ago.
 
We expect the final report on the review in the near future this report will provide useful information on the operation of these standards to improve accessibility of public transport.
 
Harmonisation of Anti-Discrimination Laws

Recently, the Government amended the Age Discrimination Act, removing the dominant reason test. In effect, a persos age only needs to be a reason  not the reason for the discrimination to be deemed unlawful.
 
I am pleased that we have now brought the Age Discrimination Act 2004 into line with the approach used in other federal antdiscrimination Acts in order to create national consistency.
 
There is still more to do in this area of harmonisation.  
 
As some of you may be aware, I have been raising the issue of harmonisation more broadly with my State and Territory counterparts.
 
In April, we launched the national andiscrimination law information gateway which provides a single point of entry to all Commonwealth, State and Territory anti-discrimination authorities.
 
This entry point makes it easier to access information on how to make and respond to complaints.
 
This gateway was the first outcome delivered via a working group established through the Standing Committee of AttorneyGeneral to identify options for both procedural and substantive harmonisation of Australia
 
This group will be reporting on options to Ministers in 2010.  I expect the outcomes of the national human rights consultation will assist this process.
 
Reconciliation and Indigenous Australians
 
It seems to me that few other issues oblige our willingness to engage and collaborate as does opening up opportunities for Indigenous Australians.
 
I can report that the Council of Australian Governments continues to push ahead with its ambitious $4.6 billion program to close gaps in education, mortality rates and employment.
 
This work is being supported by the Coordinator-General for Remote Indigenous Services who has been tasked with cutting through bureaucratic blockages and red tape to ensure services are delivered in remote communities. [i]
 
Last week I was in  Alice Springs for a meeting of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General.  My colleagues and I endorsed the principles of a draft National Indigenous Law and Justice Framework.
 
This Framework tackles serious Indigenous justice issues and aims to reduce the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system. It represents the first nationally agreed approach in this area.
 
This national policy approach to community safety will provide a guide for action to reduce Indigenous peoples disadvantage in law and justice issues.
 
While in  Alice Springs, I had the opportunity to visit nearby town camps around and it was clear to me that community safety is an essential building block to achieving our targets to close the gap in other areas such as health, education and housing.
 
While there, I announced that the Rudd Government will invest an additional $2 million to evaluate the effectiveness of Indigenous law and justice programs to identify the best approaches to tackling crime and justice issues in Indigenous communities.
 
Native Title
 
The Government also believes that native title has potential to help close the gap of Indigenous disadvantage.
 
Our strategy is to resolve claims at a faster rate with better outcomes, and s an approach that I assisted in March when I introduced the Native Title Amendment Bill 2009 into Parliament.
 
If passed by the Senate, the Bill will bring about much needed institutional reform to the native title system by giving the Federal Court control of native title matters, including mediation.
 
This yes Budget allocated more than $50 million over four years to build a more efficient system focussed on agreement-makin not costly, protracted litigation.
 
We will assist Native Title Representative Bodies to represent native title claimants and holders, and we will work with State and Territory Governments to develop new approaches to the settlement of claims through negotiated settlements.
 
We want to encourage the setting aside of old attitudes and eliminate stalemates because drawn-out litigation benefits no one.
 
In June this year, I witnessed first hand the Nyangumarta native title on-country consent determination hearing.
 
This determination in the Pilbara region of Western Australia was not only important as formal recognition of the Nyangumarta peopls ongoing relationship with their land but also because it provides the opportunity to create sustainable, long-term economic outcomes.
 
International Developments
 
I am also pleased to report that there have been a number of steps taken by the Government at the international level to demonstrate our re-engagement with the United Nations.
 
In April, my colleague Jenny Macklin made a statement of support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, reversing the previous Governments position.
 
Last year I mentioned that we were fast tracking work to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
 
I am pleased to report that since then we have also:
    •     acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Disabilities Convention
    •     acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and
    •     signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture.
 
In relation to the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture, we are consulting with the States and Territories on the implications of becoming a party to the Protocol.
 
We have also announced that we will enact a specific offence of torture in Commonwealth law  honouring our commitment to the UN Optional Protocol.
 
It is also our intention to introduce comprehensive federal legislation to ensure the death penalty cannot be reintroduced anywhere in Australia.
 
Conclusion

As I mentioned earlier, much has been achieved in the past 12 months but as I have outlined above there are a number of areas where work continues.
 
In particular, the outcomes from the national human rights consultation will provide an opportunity for the Government to consider a range of options for the ongoing promotion and protection of human rights.
 
Without pre-empting the report, I am confident that the momentum of the Rudd Governmens actions in the area of human rights will continue.
 
Thank you.



[i] Extracted from the COAG Communiq,  2 July 2009, and sighted on 4 August 2009 at   http://www.coag.gov.au/coag_meeting_outcomes/2009-07-02
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