Choosing a Group and Case
Every person is entitled to human rights and they are very essential to Indigenous people as well. Each and every person has a right to enjoy human rights without being discriminated in any way regardless of their race. Although the law provides equal rights for all people, indigenous people have been experiencing violation of their rights across the jurisdiction of Australia. These people are descended from the persons who resided inside Australia and its surrounding Islands before colonization by the Europeans. In general, indigenous people of Australia are divided into two categories. There is Torres Strait Islander, whose original habitat was in North of Cape York Queensland at Torres Strait Islands and the Indigenous persons who descended from other Australian parts (Elisabeth Baehr, 2017). To understand who real Indigenous Australians are, they should be given an opportunity to be heard. These are diverse individuals and their identity has different meaning to different people. Many believe that being indigenous is to be connected to community and culture of the country. In exploration of how these people are treated when it comes to human rights, this report has revised various prior written literatures. Some of the key sources for a reliable information include past newspapers, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and other books focusing on Human rights. According to these sources, Indigenous Australian have been experiencing violations of their rights, because of their color, size of population and their illiteracy. This paper describes some of their rights that are breached, the manner in which they are breached, and their implications. It farther analyzes these breaches and connects them to the relative UDRH articles.
Basic rights and freedoms are not protected by national law in Australia. Although the country is a signatory on all the five treaties which constitute United Nations International Bill of Human Rights, no existing provision is set to assess if the government is abiding to its obligations (Stener Ekern, 2016). Many of the time the government does not observe its responsibilities. Nevertheless, some individuals find advantage when protections of human is not observed. They claim that it provides room for real debates regarding human rights and the tweaking, updating and refining for them to shape Australian community to the current needs.
The freedoms and human rights specifically significant to Indigenous involve the rights to:
- be safe and free from violence – Article 3 of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- be treated in equal terms according to stipulations of law – Article 7 and 9
- adequate living standards including housing, clothing and food – Article 25
- culture use and enjoyment, language preservations, and not forcibly being assimilated and culture destruction – Article 12 and 18
- appropriate attainable of mental health and physical fitness – Article 25
- recognition and safeguarding of traditional resources, territories, and lands – Article 17
- And self-determination that include assurance of effective, free and full participation in a public life aspects and most specifically decision making in the government. Article 27
The Indigenous people living in Australia feel that these rights and freedoms are not well observed when it comes to their minority group. On daily routine they suffer the consequences resulting from Australia’s ignorance to protection of their fundamental human rights and proceed to undergo racial discrimination in various life spheres (Stener Ekern, 2016). There are concise distinctions between indigenous people and the rest of population experiences in the country across all quality of life indicators. Aboriginals basically face poor health standards, housing, education, and employment (Lyn Talbot, 2010). There is over-representation for them in the systems of criminal justice and the care plus protection frameworks at national level in comparison to other citizens. For instance;
- Life expectancy for indigenous persons is lower by seventeen years in comparison with the rest of Australia’s population.
- In the year 2006, the rate of joblessness for indigenous population was sixteen percent against just fifteen percent for non-indigenous citizens.
- Between 2004 and 2005, twenty seven percent of Indigenous people resided in overcrowded situations.
- Most of the minority are homeless than the non-indigenous. In the year 2006 there rate of homelessness was three times that of other citizens.
- The indigenous represented over twenty-four percent of the prison population in the year 2007.
- Indigenous people get involved in family violence more than other Australians.
Indigenous Australians and Human Rights
Under the federal Racial Discrimination Act 1975, any person who feels that he or she has been vilified or discriminated on the basis of their race, one can complain or report to the Australian Human Rights Commission. The complaint may include discrimination in advertising and trade union membership, accessing land, employment, accommodation or housing, accessing public facilities, and accessing goods and services. Other authorities that a victim can lodge a claim with include people territory or state anti-discrimination laws (Saul, 2016). Nevertheless, there are limited human rights safeguards for Indigenous citizens in the present. There exist limited protections for social, cultural and economic rights for these people. Authorities should consult and guarantee competent participation of the aboriginal people in making decisions that affects them. This lack of protection has led to retarded progress in stressing the limitations faced aboriginals and contributes to policies established without their input (Saul, 2016). This mainly ends up with efforts being infectively focused and at time discriminatory.
One of the major conspicuous limitations of human freedoms and rights safeguards in Australia’s government system does not hinder the federal authority from developing regulations that discriminate against aboriginals because of their race. Most recent instances include the amendment of the Native Title Act in 1998 and the 2007 depiction of Northern Territory Emergency Response Act (Saul, 2016). This has suspended application of racial discrimination legislations. Condition that led to establishment of these laws could have been conducted without leading to discriminations based on race.
There has been a consistent support for Australia’s Human rights Act by the Australian Human Rights Commission. An Act established protection of Human Rights can assist in preventing breaches and offer rectifications in case such breaches occurred (Stener Ekern, 2016). The act can make a difference in advocating for and safeguarding the rights and freedoms of all Australians. It will require the federal government to accountably consider the way decisions affect Human Rights.
A human rights act can make the legislature consider how law affects Humanity. For instance, Parliament must justify publicly decisions made to effect laws which discriminate against minorities. It can also lead the government to have respect on human rights when formulating policies. For instance, it might be required to give respect to the participation of Indigenous citizens in making decisions on matters that impact them directly. Thirdly, the Act will demand respect for human rights by public servants when delivering services to the public. For instance, the diverse and distinct cultures, aspirations and needs of the minority would require to be considered in the design and delivery of housing and health services (Elisabeth Baehr, 2017). Last and not the least, the Act would offer a variety of enforceable remedies if a department of the government breach any of the human rights and freedoms.
Because of the intensity of demerits in Indigenous societies, a human Rights Act which consists of the right to essential housing, social security, education, and health can create a difference to the lives of Australian indigenous people (Elisabeth Baehr, 2017). It can enhance the services, procedures, and policies that different minority citizens face every day. Even if they would get benefits from the protection of a variety of general rights, protection of human rights would be particularly improved of the Act met certain terms.
- recognized Indigenous peoples in the preamble
- recognized the rights of Aboriginal persons to competent participation in making decisions as regards matters that impact them.
- Impact their rights recognized precise rights of Aboriginal persons to their lands, languages, culture and conventional awareness, among other integral rights.
In the long run, the act would become a powerful tool to foster a stronger Australian Human rights culture through promotion of better understanding and respect towards general Australians.
Conclusion
The Indigenous people living in Australia feel that these rights and freedoms are not well observed when it comes to their minority group. On daily routine they suffer the consequences resulting from Australia’s ignorance to protection of their fundamental human rights and proceed to undergo discrimination on racial basis in various spheres of life. There are concise distinctions between other citizens and aboriginal people experiences in the country through all life quality indicators. Indigenous citizens basically face poor health standards, housing, education, and employment. Aboriginal people generally undergo poorer standards of housing, education, health, and employment. Indigenous are over-represented in the criminal justice frameworks plus the protection and care procedures nationwide in comparison to majority Australians. Human Rights statute that constitutes the rights to essential housing, education, social security, and health could establish a difference to Indigenous people of Australia lives. It can enhance the policies, services, and procedures which different Indigenous people experience on daily routine.
References
Elisabeth Baehr, B. S.-H. (2017). ‘And there’ll be NO dancing’: Perspectives on Policies Impacting Indigenous Australia since 2007. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Lyn Talbot, G. V. (2010). Promoting Health: The Primary Health Care Approach. Melbourne: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Saul, B. (2016). Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights: International and Regional Jurisprudence. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Stener Ekern, W. L.-L. (2016). World Heritage Management and Human Rights. Abingdon: Routledge.
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