Australian Human Rights Commission failed to perform their statutory function during Covid-19
From 2020 until today, State and Federal Governments as well as many private companies have habitually breached Australia’s international human rights obligations. For example, the right to liberty of movement is enshrined in the ICCPR, as is the right to freely consent to medical and scientific experimentation absent economic or social pressure.
The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is a Federal body which was set up to promote and defend human rights in Australia. Many people don’t realise that the AHRC Act actually includes within it the various human rights covenants and treaties Australia is a signatory to (including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) and, critically, that it bestows upon the Commission the duties and functions to ensure they are being complied with.
This is the closest we come in Australia to enshrining international human rights doctrine into domestic law. And, it’s much closer than most people realise.
Seven days ago we sent the below letter to the relatively new Australian Human Rights Commissioner, Ms Lorraine Finlay. As explained in our letter, the Australian Human Rights Commission has failed to perform their statutory function over the last two years. In particular, the following functions within the Act have seemingly been ignored by the Commission;
1. to “inquire into any act or practice that may be inconsistent with or contrary to any human right” (and in particular, with any covenant or declaration specifically included in the Act), and to “effect a settlement of the matters that gave rise to the inquiry”; and
2. to perform the functions conferred on the Commission by section 31 which have to do with equal opportunity in employment and occupation (including functions relating to any company that discriminate against employees on the basis of their medical record); and
3. to examine enactments (ie; laws) for the purpose of ascertaining whether those laws are, or would be, inconsistent with or contrary to any human right; and to report to the Minister the results of same.
We gave the Commissioner some time to consider the letter and to speak to us before our publishing it, but she hasn't. So, we're publicly sharing this letter and seeking to escalate the important questions within to a Parliamentary Inquiry.
The full letter, with annexures, can be downloaded here:
https://lnkd.in/dgwktP_m
