The Importance Of Bill Of Rights In Australia

Human rights are the rights of humans, regardless of nationality, gender, race, or religion. We should all have this in common as we are all part of humanity. However, Indigenous people did not always have these rights (Ag.gov.au, 2015). Aside from basic human rights, Indigenous people also have their own rights specific to their culture. Before 1967, Indigenous people had different rights in different states and the Australian federal government did not have any jurisdiction over Aboriginal affairs until Australia’s constitution was amended for this purpose in 1967 (Moadoph.gov.au, 2015). Between 1900 and the present time, there have been significant changes to the rights of Indigenous Australians. The effects of the European Settlement on the Indigenous people of Australia have been devastating. When white people began arriving in Australia, the Aboriginal people believed them to be ghosts of ancestor spirits. However, once they realised the settlers were invading their land, the Aborigines became, understandably, hostile (Slater & Parish, 1999, pp.8-11). In 1788, the total Indigenous population was believed to be between 750,000 and one million. By 1888, the Indigenous population was reduced to around 80,000 Australia wide (Korff, 2014). The three main reasons for this dramatic decline were the introduction of new diseases, violent conflicts with the colonisers, and settlers acquiring Indigenous land (Digital, 2015). In 1848, the Board of National Education stated that it

* Human Rights Act of 1998 * Mental Capacity Act of 2005 * Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards 2005 * Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 * Mental Health Act 2007 * The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 * Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 * Carers(Equal Opportunities) Act 2004 Together these legislations formed the fundamental rights and freedom of an individual. These affect the rights of everyday life of an individual including what they can say and do, their beliefs, right not to be tortured and right to a

Currently, human rights in Australia are protected in different ways. Unlike most other similar liberal democracies, Australia has no Bill of Rights to protect human rights in one single document. Instead, some rights can be found in the Constitution, our common law and legislation which includes acts passed by the Commonwealth Parliament or State or Territory Parliaments.

• Human Rights Act 1998 – is an Act that gives legal effect in the UK to certain fundamental rights and freedoms contained in

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.

SID: 470338470 Jihye Choi Word count: Assignment 2: Final Essay Introduction 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.

INTERPRETATION In the article, Professor Hilary Charlesworth advocates Australia adopting a formal bill of rights – a statutory one rather than a constitutional one. Charlesworth identifies the three main opposing arguments to an Australian bill of rights including that our current democracy is effective, the possibility of lawyers manipulating a bill of rights to their own advantage and finally that it would be antagonistic to the Australian democratic system.

Bringing Them Home Human rights are inalienable, no matter what ethnicity or culture one belongs to. Every human is entitled to their Human Rights. For a large period of time in Australian history Indigenous Australians were discriminated against, abused and denied their Human Rights. The Bringing Them Home Report significantly advanced the rights of Indigenous Australians as it began the reconciliation process which recognised the injustices which had been done to Indigenous Australians involved in the Stolen Generations, and set out a list of recommendations to create equality in Australia. Whilst an apology was given to the Indigenous Australians the concept of reparations still remains a major topic in the Bringing Them Home Report

Currently the Australian Constitution identifies five explicit human rights which every Australian is entitled to. Section 51 (xxxi) expresses that property can only be taken from a State or person by the Commonwealth on just terms. Section 80 details that everyone has a right to a fair trial by a jury and section 116 implies freedom of religion in that no laws are to be made in order to define or prohibit any religion (Findlaw Australia, 2016). Section 41 of the Australian Constitution gives citizens the right to vote by stating that no person should be prevented from voting for representatives in the House of the Parliament of the Commonwealth (Commonwealth Consolidated Acts, unkown). Section 117 conveys that no Australian from one State

Good morning year 11 & 12 students, I am here to talk to you about the Human Rights, are they relevant to Australian Society and the effectiveness the Australian Governments been in ensuring that these rights are promoted and enforced. Human rights, what does it mean? “That which is ethically good and proper and in conformity with the moral Law as it pertains to people.” This can be found in the Macquarie dictionary. 1948 was when the human rights was adopted, this was because of the end result of World War II (WWII). With the creation of the United Nations, and the end of WWII the international community this being “The countries of the world considered collectively," they vowed to never again let the conflicts and disasters like in WWII to

Unlike many common law countries, Australia does not have a statutory or Constitutional Charter or Bill of Rights. This means it has no single piece of documentation dedicated to the protection of Human Rights. Instead, rights may be recognised by the constitution, by common law or by Australian Legislation.

According to the National Pro Bono Resource Centre, (2011) discrimination and rights are still violated against Aboriginal people. This report investigates the social justice issue surrounding discrimination and recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander in the Constitution.

With regard to the broader debate on human rights in Australia, the necessary actions that are required are also no brainers. We lack the necessary unified voice as & level of knowledge on, the topic as a population however, which means we fail to lobby our Government effectively. Regardless, the Government has proven time & again that they are not open to the creation of a Bill of Rights, or any legislative instrument that might reflect more of what we as Australians see to be basic human rights for all who live, visit, and wish to live

The need for Australia to play a leadership role in promoting human rights within the Asia-Pacific region to promote regional stability;

In Australia human rights have been honored and legislated in most sectors of society with the majority of the population living prosperous lives without much predicament. Moreover, the general populace has the ability to copiously exercise their human rights without opposition. Thus, Australia is well known for possessing one of the highest wellbeing rates in the world. However, this wasn’t, and arguably is still not the case for Indigenous Australians. Indigenous Australians have been statistically proven to fair much poorer in general wellbeing and thus their rights and freedoms (as the two are irrefutably intertwined) in comparison to their non-indigenous Australian counterparts. In regards to this, the content of this paper shall be