Advantages And Disadvantages Of Australia's Bill Of Rights

These include freedom of opinion, thought, association and freedom from arbitrary detention and are all about treating others fairly and being fairly treated yourself, and making genuine choices in daily life. Wilson says ‘Respect for human rights underpins the democratic processes of our society and is the cornerstone of a society that respects individuals and voluntary community collaboration’ (Tim Wilson, 2014). Despite this, the control the Australian Government exercised over its people in WWII encroached on all of these universally recognized human rights, and it was in 1948 after the atrocity of WWII that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was internationalised.

Good afternoon, my name is Stephanie Jones and I am a currently a human rights lawyer. Human rights are the basic freedoms and protections that everyone is entitled to purely for simply just being a human being. Today I would like to use this opportunity to discuss with you the greatly debated issue of an Australian Bill of Rights. Australia currently does not have a Bill of Rights, but is the current legal system coping without one? The answer to that question in my opinion is no. Australia currently is not adequately protecting individual human rights without having a Bill of Rights. While many people would argue that yes, Australia protects individual rights well enough as it is, just as many people passionately argue that Australia does indeed need a Bill of Rights for a variety of reasons which will be talked about in greater depth later on. In my talk with you today, I would like to discuss with you all what exactly a Bill of Rights is and what it aims to achieve, how a Bill of Rights has worked in other countries and some of the more popular arguments for and against having one.

This has come from the Australian community and international human rights monitors who have stated that “There are still areas in which the domestic legal system does not provide an effective remedy to persons whose rights under the [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights] have been violated … [Australia] should take measures to give effect to all Covenant rights and freedoms.” There hasn’t only been a recent push for a Bill of Rights, Former Chief Justice Sir Anthony Mason wrote in 1997 that “Australia's adoption of a Bill of Rights would bring Australia in from the cold, so to speak, and make directly applicable the human rights jurisprudence which has developed internationally and elsewhere. That is an important consideration in that our isolation from that jurisprudence means that we do not have what is a vital component of other constitutional and legal systems, a component which has a significant impact on culture and thought, and is an important ingredient in the emerging world order that is reducing the effective choices open to the nation state”. Brian Galligan who is an academic expert on citizenship stated that “the old confidence in the effectiveness of parliamentary responsible government and the common law for protecting human rights has been undermined by more realistic accounts of the weakness of parliament and the increasingly residual domain of common law compared with the plethora of statutory laws.” The answer to whether Australia needs to adopt a Bill of Rights in order to protect Australian citizens is simple… yes and

The case of Ruddock v Vadarlis is fundamental when it comes to understanding the rights of an individual or human rights more broadly and how they are protected by public law in Australia, however this is an extremely complex issue, and this case outlined many of the protections that ensure human rights but also was one of the defining moments for human rights and public policy in the contemporary era, this cases influence stretches far, but this essay will explain how this case enshrined how Australian public law protects people’s rights. This essay will focus on the individual rights of Australians, this in itself generates a great deal of discussion and viewpoints, different ideas on exactly what rights were protected, and which rights

Human rights are the right that any individual is entitled under their government, and it can be provided in divergent forms. Thus in Australia, there are no set of ‘Bill of Rights’, comparable to many other western countries that share similar legal values and standards. The American ‘Bill of Rights’ states that the government ensures the freedom of speech and religion, protection from torture and punishment, and the fair procedures of law . There has always been a great debate on whether Australian government should acquire a constitutional Bill of Rights. I believe that it is not necessary to obtain a Bill of Rights as it is not necessary for Australian legal system, and further, it can bring confusion, greater debate and litigations. There are other forms of human rights law introduced into Australian legal system which sets boundaries for the government to respect individual rights. Consequently, it proves the unnecessity for a Bill of Rights in Australia.

The Australian Government, unlike many liberal democracy countries, has no Bill of Rights, instead we have a constitution. This is a document stating the laws of Australia and the way our government must run. A Bill of Rights would positively enforce new, and re-instated laws to protect the rights of Australian people.

The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. It was created by James Madison in an effort to protect the rights and liberties of individuals and to place restrictions on government power.The Bill of Rights prevents the United States from slipping into a totalitarian government; delegates power to the states; and promotes individual freedom. The Bill of Rights is beneficial to the United States.

Human rights in Australia have largely been developed under Australian Parliamentary democracy, and safeguarded by such institutions as the Australian Human Rights Commission and an independent judiciary and High Court who apply the Common Law, the Australian Constitution and various other laws of Australia and its states and territories. Universal voting rights and rights to freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of religion and freedom from discrimination are protected in Australia. As a founding member of the United Nations, Australia assisted in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and it is signatory to various other international treaties on the subject of Human Rights. Australia is the only democratic

Australian detention centres have been known to violate the United Nations Human Rights Committee’s (UNHRC) human rights obligations, which has resulted in detrimental repercussions for the refugees and asylum seekers accommodated there. With respect to the UNHRC human rights obligations, individuals that are detained must be respected of their humanity and dignity (Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), 2013, pp.7). In December 2012, however, the UNHRC had uncovered overly strict and unsatisfactory living circumstances, for instance overcrowding, which had been known to promote depression and alternate mental illnesses among asylum seekers and refugees (AHRC, 2013, pp.17). Similarly, Burnside (2014) stated that refugees were refused to

In the reality, asylum seekers who come across the seas by boat are not welcomed by Australian government. However, in the Advance Australia Fair, it says: “For those who've come across the seas we've boundless plains to share.” Locking up the asylum seekers who come across the seas to escape from persecution in the detain centres is absolutely not the way people share their “boundless plains”. Also the detain centres have a poor hygiene conditions (Greene & Sveen, 2014) and may have frequent raping and beating (Whyte & Gordon, 2014). Moreover, the new Border Force Act that has already assented recently in May (Parliament of Australia, 2015) will probably imprison the staffs in detain centres who tell the public the real situation inside the detain centres up to 2 years. This act will “effectively turns the Department of Immigration into a secret security organization with police powers” (Barns & Newhouse, 2015). Asylum seekers who come over the seas from India, Indonesia or some other countries to find a new home in Australia will not only not being welcomed as what Advance Australia Fair’s says, but also suffer from life threatening conditions in the detain

Australia has earned its democracy rights when the citizens were first able to vote for a leader to represent on their behalf. “People are free to use their own productive capacity” (SOSE Commerce, p144) which demonstrates how they wish to create a fair and just society. Every citizen is able to use their “land…, management skills or finances” (SOSE Commerce, p142) freely, and this creates “a society where all have equal rights” (SOSE Commerce,

In order to have a strong society that is able to meet challenges, Australias system of government is based upon core beliefes and attitudes that are respected by most members of the community in Australias democratic society. For example, our society is based on prevailing beliefes that the people, in free and fair elections, will elect a government that premotes freedom, tolerance and cooperation of the people by upholding basic human rights. Australia’s institutions and practices reflect British and North American traditions combined in a way that is unique to Australia and its people. We are lucky in Australia to have so many rights and freedoms that a lot of other countries around the world do not get to experience. An example of this

In Australia, present laws regulating human rights are protected in unlike most similar liberal democracies; Australia has no Bill of Rights to protect human rights in a single document. Rather rights may be found across the Constitution, common law and legislation – Acts passed by the Commonwealth Parliament or State or Territory Parliaments. This allows legislatures and judiciaries a complementary role in protecting rights. This is the most fluid and flexible system but the least secure in terms of protection as these laws are becoming increasingly inadequate with community values and expectations. This method places the legislature in the dominant position because its statutes can override common law. Therefore Australia needs a bill of

Rights are like the regulations of Jazz- be mindful, listen to everyone involved and work together to harmonize. The Bill of Rights gives every American a base. It's creates the equality we need to come together and have open conversations. Without this base, people wouldn’t have the ability to come together as equals and discuss their differences; just like Jazz members would be unable to work together if a soloists felts their music was more important than someone else's and neglected to listen to

Human rights are qualities that every human is entitled to, no matter their race, nationality, sexuality, place of residents, national or ethnic origin, skin colour, language or any other status. Everyone is equally entitled to these rights and should be afforded them in the absence of discrimination. These rights are indivisible and can be interdependent or interrelated. The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization that 's purpose is to protect the rights of people from all around the world. The UN consists of members from nations from all around the globe. The UN charter was first signed in 1945 and its primary purpose is to stops events similar to World War 2 from occurring. It 's important to understand the UN because they are responsible for declarations such as the universal declaration of human rights, which was a result of the Second World War. There are many ways a country can protect human rights, this can be done through the adoption of a constitutional or statutory bill of rights as well as through common law and legislative processes. The Australian system is a ‘mixed’ system where rights are upheld by the Constitution through implied and explicit rights as well as those accessible through the External affairs power); a statutory system as well as common law. John Howard’s assertion that “existing parliamentary and common law structures are the best possible protection of HR in Australia” is problematic as no matter which you choose, each of