Australia's Universal Periodic Review on human rights
Australia appeared before the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on 27 January 2011.
The Universal Periodic Review is a new process undertaken by the United Nations Human Rights Council. It involves review of the human rights records of all 192 Member States once every four years. The ultimate aim of the Review is to improve the human rights situation in all countries and address human rights violations wherever they occur.
The UPR provides two major opportunities for Australia:
- It allows the Australian community and Government to take stock of how well we are protecting the human rights of all people in Australia; and
- It permits the Australian Government to inform the international community of the human rights situation in Australia and to engage with other countries about specified steps it will take to improve the enjoyment of human rights in Australia.
The report of Australia’s UPR appearance is available here: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/PAGES/AUSession10.aspx
The Government’s response to the recommendations contained in the report is here: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/PAGES/AUSession10.aspx
The Commission’s statement on the Government response and report is available here.
Other materials
The Commission has also prepared a series of Questions and Answers about Australia's participation in the UPR process. This includes:
- the process for the Universal Periodic Review
- timeline for Australia's appearance
Click here for the UPR Questions and Answers
The Commission made a submission to the UN Human Rights Council for Australia's UPR appearance:
All resources relating to Australia’s UPR appearance are available on the following UN website: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/PAGES/AUSession10.aspx
