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Chapter 3The protection of rights under the

Commonwealth Constitution

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What are rights?

In general terms it is how individuals are treated as members of a particular organisation or community

Basic privileges that all living people are entitled to claim

People have them simply by being human An entitlement that is enforceable by law Basic rights such as right to life, freedom,

equality, dignity, Individuals have civil rights, legal rights,

democratic rights, and social and economic rights

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How are rights protected in Australia

Without a comprehensive charter of rights, the protection of rights in Australia is a very fragmented array of different legal and constitutional instruments. Due to the division of powers, not all states have identical arrangements, so there is no consistency across the nation. The following diagram sums up the ways in which the rights of Australian citizens are protected.

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Australia

The Australian Constitution lays out the rules by which Australia is governed, but unlike the situation in some other countries, it says very little about the rights of our citizens. Australia is the only advanced democratic country in the world that does not have a clear statement of this nature. Which rights does our constitution actually protect and how do we measure up against comparable countries?

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What are rights?

Australia has declared that it will abide by the expectations contained within ‘The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)’

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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

Life liberty& security Freedom from

slavery Ban on torture &

cruel punishment of prisoners

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/ca195882/s9ai.html

http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/how-victoria-gave-the-green-light-to-torture/2006/05/16/1147545322311.html

Fair trial Innocent till proven

guilty

Equal pay Right to seek work Freedom to marry,

have a family & own property

Outlawing discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, sex, language, opinion

(there are 30 of these)

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Amnesty International

Indigenous and Refuge response

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQiFMJxt_H0

Convention on the Rights of the Child

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPWnI-NXIGc&list=PL812095B2F8CFEFB9

In Australia

While rights have a moral force, the UN does not have the legal power to make these part of the law in any country and it is left to each individual country to make rights part of the law

The USA is well known for their Bill of Rights which clearly lists and protects many basic rights e.g, right to keep and bear arms

There has been attempts to create a national Bill of Human rights in Australia but have not been successful

The ACT has been the first to pass their own: Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT)

Followed by Victoria: Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006(VIC)

Why were they established?

WW2 resulted in approximately 60 million deaths 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust World leaders wanted action so this does not

happen again They wanted more civilised world order They believed that every person should be entitled

to these People needed protection because governments

and people behaved badly The United Nations drew up the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights (consists of 30 rights) 

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Right to Life

The most fundamental right.We have systems and processes in place to protect life and prosecute those who unlawfully take it.

All Australian states have abolished the death penalty

In March 2010 the Torture Prohibition and Death Penalty Abolition Act (2010) Cth made it impossible for any state to re-introduce the death penalty.

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Capital Punishment

Australia has signed the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which commits Australia to the abolition of the death penalty. For how this affects domestic law, see UNSWCCL's comment piece: The PM could protect us from the death penalty.

Australia voted for the UN General Assembly's resolution calling for a global moratorium on the death penalty (18 December 2007).

Australia annually co-sponsors a resolution of the UN Human Rights Commission that calls for all nations to abolish the death penalty. The latest version of the resolution was passed on 20 April 2005 and is called The Question of the Death Penalty (UN Doc E/CN.4/RES/2005/59).

jurisdiction last execution abolition

Queensland 1913 1922

New South Wales 1940 1985(*)

Tasmania 1946 1968

Commonwealth nil 1973

ACT nil 1973

Northern Territory 1952 1973

Victoria 1967 1975

South Australia 1964 1976

Western Australia 1964 1984

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Capital Punishment

Since Federation (1901), only 114 persons have been legally executed in Australia. Incidentally this figure of 114 happens to coincide with the total number of persons said to have been executed in South Africa in 1984.

http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/F/6/D/%7BF6D67388-75E0-4CBC-8181-E0BF0204D3CF%7Dti03.pdf

Ronald Joseph Ryan (21 February 1925 – 3 February 1967) was the last person to be legally executed in Australia. Ryan was found guilty of shooting and killing prison officer George Hodson during an escape from Pentridge Prison, Victoria in 1965. Ryan's hanging was met with some of the largest public protests in the history of Australia and led to the abolition of the death penalty in the country

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Ryan http://

www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/ronald-ryan-did-not-kill-warder/story-e6frg6nf-1111115166959

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Democratic Rights

Also known as Civil/political rights

These are the rights of a citizen to participate in the government and political processes of their country.

Right to be protected by legal processes Vs abuse of power.

Examples: Equality before the

law, irrespective of race, ethnicity, wealth or social position

Freedom from torture and other cruel or degrading punishment

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Economic, social and cultural rights

These include the rights to the resources for an adequate standard of living;

FoodClean waterClothingShelterHealth careEducation

Why do human rights need protection?

ACTIVITYResearch some of the different types of human right violations around the worldGo to;www.amnesty.org.au

0ur work Types of human right violations; ( refugees, indigenous people,

weapons, death penalty, women, torture and terror, poverty etc. ) Look up 3 topics Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?

Your Turn

Answer Questions 1 – 5Page 91 of Text

Answers to be discussed and posted on the Q drive

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