Australia has been labelled a “global laggard” when it comes to human rights in a new international report released on Tuesday.
Amnesty International’s 2021/22 report, which looks at human rights developments around the world, revealed the Australian Government’s continued detainment of children as young as 10 years old, the ongoing “brutal treatment of refugees” and attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community are a breach of basic human rights.
Amnesty International Australia National Director Sam Klintworth said while there was some progress with the ACT Government committing to increase the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14 in October, no other states are yet to follow suit.
“The Australian Government is still choosing to ignore the overwhelming evidence from health experts, social workers, Indigenous leaders, legal experts and human rights organisations, that forcing children through a criminal legal process significantly harms their health, wellbeing and future,” she said.
“Sending children to prison is not the answer.”
Advocacy groups continue to accuse the government of rejecting data from the Australian institute of health and welfare and questioning its commitment to Closing the Gap in youth incarceration rates.
Change the Record co-chair, Narungga woman Cheryl Axleby, told NCA NewsWire First Nations children are imprisoned at a disproportionately higher rate than other children.
“Australia has been condemned by over 30 countries worldwide for our cruel and harmful treatment of predominantly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children,” Ms Axleby said.
“If the Morrison government lacks the courage and decency to show leadership, we call on every state and territory government to step up and honour their promises to Close the Gap by raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 years old.”
The report revealed there is still a long way to go in the ongoing “brutal treatment of refugees and asylum seekers” in arbitrary detention, with resettlement decreasing by more than 5000 in 2020-2021.
“There are still too many people who are unable to access their basic human rights in Australia,” Ms Klintworth said.
“The continued failure of members of society including refugees, asylum seekers and First Nations People, to xjmtzywaccess their rights demonstrates the urgent need for the government to implement an overarching single Human Rights Act that defends and protects the rights of all people.”
The human rights organisation called out the nation for attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community, after it introduced a revised Bill on Religious Freedom that would allow religious schools to refuse to hire or dismiss teachers on the grounds of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Teachers at a controversial Christian school in Brisbane were asked to sign employment contracts that warned they could be sacked for being openly homosexual.
A teacher at the Citipointe Christian College lost his job for refusing to sign the document in February.
This is the second time this year the private primary and high school has been called out for discrimination after it asked families to sign a document that labelled homosexuality as “immoral” and offensive to God.
Australia’s lack of climate action was also highlighted in the report, following the government’s efforts to fund coal and gas, despite targets under the Paris Agreement and human rights law.
Hundreds of school children protested outside Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s house on Friday to demand action on climate change.
The student-led climate strikes took place in cities, suburbs and regional towns across Australia, and aimed to call on the federal government to divert funding away from coal and gas projects to clean, renewable energy.
A student protester Ella O’Dwyer-Oshlack, 13, who lost her home in the Lismore floods, said she has not been able to go back to school since the disaster.
“My home was flooded and our whole town is a mess,” she said.
“Why is the federal government still giving money to fossil fuel companies? This is making the problem worse.”
The protests come after the Federal Court found the Australian government does not owe children protection from the harm caused by climate change.
