President speech: Keynote address to VIEW Clubs of Australia

Keynote address to VIEW Clubs of Australia

The Hon Catherine Branson QC

VIEW Annual National Convention

19 September 2009

Good morning. I would like to acknowledge the Kaurna people, the traditional owners of the land upon which we meet, and pay my respect to their elders past and present.

I am delighted to be able to speak to you at this Annual Convention. In keeping with the theme of the convention - Children Are Our Future: Let’s Educate Them Today - I am going to talk about some of the key human rights issues relating to child development and education in Australia.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child

This year is the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention is an international treaty which was adopted in 1989 by the General Assembly of the United Nations. Australia is a party to the Convention.

The adoption of the Convention was a landmark moment in international human rights law because it acknowledged that human rights are children's rights too. It accorded children around the world a new status – children were to be treated as rights-holders in the same way as adults; they were to be recognised as having dignity and worth in their own right, that is, independently of their parents, and to be entitled to have their human rights respected in the same way as others. In addition, the Convention acknowledged that children are entitled to special protection because of their particular vulnerability to exploitation and abuse.

Human rights outline the minimum standards necessary to ensure the wellbeing of us all, including, of course, children – the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to health care and education, the right to family life, the right to protection from violence, and the right to participate in one’s culture. Because of the close relationship between human rights and indicators of child wellbeing, human rights provide a useful framework for identifying and evaluating what governmental and other decisions will be in the best interests of Australia’s children.

Looking at the wellbeing of children through a human rights framework involves a departure from the traditional welfare model of imposed solutions; instead, it aims to empower and engage children, their families and their communities to create their own solutions – and it recognises not simply a need for, but also an entitlement to, a fair life chance for all Australian children.

There are four key principles in the Convention on the Rights of the Child which should inform any approach Australia takes to protecting the best interests of our children. These principles are:

• All children have the right to equality and to be protected from discrimination. This applies to every child ‘irrespective of the child’s or his or her parent’s or legal guardian’s race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status’.1
• That the best interests of children must be a primary consideration when public or other authorities make decisions which affect them. This principle applies to decisions by courts of law, administrative authorities, legislative bodies and both public and private social-welfare institutions.2
• The right to survival and development3 – In this context, ‘development’ has a broad meaning, referring not only to physical health but also mental health, emotional wellbeing, cognitive ability, social and cultural development.
• The right of children to participate in decision-making – Children should be free to have opinions on all matters affecting them, and those opinions should be given due weight ‘in accordance with the age and maturity of the child’.4 In other words, children have the right to be heard and to have their views taken seriously, including in any judicial or administrative proceedings affecting them.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in the world. There are only two countries in the world which are not party to the Convention - they are the United States and Somalia.

The Convention is a legally binding international treaty. When the Australian government signed the Convention, it agreed to implement all the rights in the Convention. This means that the government is required to take all appropriate measures to ensure that the rights of all children within its jurisdiction are respected and guaranteed.

The Australian Human Rights Commission

At the Australian Human Rights Commission, promoting and protecting the rights of children is an important part of our work. We are an independent statutory agency set up by the government to promote and monitor the protection of human rights of all people in Australia, young and old.

We do this through a wide range of activities, including working with individuals, communities, governments, businesses and NGOs.

One of our central functions is to receive complaints about discrimination and breaches of human rights under federal anti-discrimination laws. If a person thinks that they have been discriminated against because of their sex, age, race or disability, they can make a complaint to us. Each year, the Commission receives around 2000 complaints, a number which increases every year. Where possible, we attempt to conciliate the matter by assisting the parties to resolve their difference.

But as you can imagine, many human rights issues are widespread and systemic and cannot be adequately addressed by resolving complaints one-by-one.

The Commission also undertakes a range of activities to raise awareness about human rights and to create changes at a broader level in the law, in policy and in social attitudes so that the whole community can benefit from increased respect for human rights.

In addition, we provide advice and recommendations to parliaments and governments about how to develop laws, policies and programs consistently with human rights. For example, approximately five years ago the Commission held a large inquiry into whether Australia’s mandatory detention laws and the treatment of children in immigration detention breached the rights of children. The inquiry found that Australia’s laws and practices resulted in numerous breaches of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, such as the right to be treated with humanity and respect for their inherent dignity, and the right to live in an environment which fosters the health, self-respect and dignity of children.5 One year after the inquiry report was published, the federal government announced that it would release children from immigration detention centres and allow them to be detained in the community or in less prison-like detention facilities.

Australians are fortunate that, compared with many other places in the world, most of us, most of the time, are able to enjoy our full range of rights - such as adequate housing, stable income, good education, a clean environment and protection from violence. However, there are some people in the community who are highly vulnerable to breaches of their rights. These people include recent migrants, people with disability, people experiencing homelessness, women experiencing domestic violence, people in aged care, people living in rural and remote areas, and of course, children and young people.

Sir William Deane, the former Governor-General of Australia, often said that the ultimate test of our worth as a nation is how we treat our most disadvantaged and vulnerable.6 I believe that we can and must do more to protect the rights of disadvantaged and marginalised people in our communities.

During my time at the Commission, it has become even more clear to me than it previously was that some children and young people in Australia face significant disadvantage:

• incidents of child abuse and neglect have more than doubled over the past ten years.
• almost half of the 100 000 people experiencing homelessness in Australia are under the age of 25.
• some children do not have access to education of an acceptable standard – particularly children in rural and remote areas and, in particular, Indigenous children in these areas.

Protecting the rights of Indigenous children

Indeed, one of the most pressing challenges facing our nation is how to address the appallingly high levels of disadvantage experienced by many Indigenous children.

The latest Productivity Commission report on Indigenous disadvantage reveals that we have made little progress in closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in key areas like health and education.7 Rates of ear disease and hearing problems for indigenous children are three times those of non-Indigenous children.8 The consequences of this are not merely health-related; deafness in Indigenous children is on occasions being mistaken for intellectual disability.9 Even where this does not occur, deafness can cause children to fall behind at school and diminish their chances of full development.

Turning to child abuse, it is tragic that an Indigenous child is six times more likely to be involved with the statutory child protection system than a non-Indigenous child.10 We should recognise to the fullest extent possible the right of all children to maintain a connection to their family, community and culture. While the protection and wellbeing of children must remain the over-riding concern, early intervention and support to families to enable them to remain together where possible should be a key priority.11 Statutory intervention should be a last resort.

An essential element of addressing Indigenous child abuse is supporting community-led initiatives. As the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner has observed, ‘the most successful programs are those that are developed by and for the community, as they promote self determination and respond to individual community needs.’12 Already, there are many Indigenous community led initiatives to combat family violence and abuse, and it is these community-based initiatives which provide the way forward. For example, the ‘Safe Families’ program run by Tangentyere Council in Alice Springs provides culturally appropriate interventions and accommodation for children at risk of, or escaping from, family violence. By providing a ‘holistic, community centred Indigenous response to child abuse’,13 it keeps the children out of the child protection system.

The right to participation

As I mentioned earlier, the right of children to participate in decision-making which affects them is a key principle in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Dialogue is vital to ascertaining what is in a child’s best interests and it is necessary for the realisation of children’s right to development. Indeed, unless the views of young people are given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity they are not being treated as rights-holders in the true sense.

Although our society has come a long way from the old attitude that children should be seen and not heard, we still have some way to go before children have adequate opportunities to participate in governmental and legal processes. For example, at the state and local levels there have been efforts to involve children and young people in policy-making. However, there is a perception that these have been mostly tokenistic. A survey of young people conducted by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission in 2008 found young people were generally dissatisfied with their experiences of participating in governmental processes. Many felt that they were ‘ticking a “youth participation” box’ rather than being active agents of change. Often the agendas on which their views were sought had already been pre-determined.14

Basic common sense tells us that young people can provide invaluable insights into how youth issues can be addressed because they are the ones who have experienced these issues first hand. Strategies and programs that are developed in consultation with young people are far more likely to be effective and sustainable.

Workshops with children and young people

Earlier this year, the Commission conducted a series of workshops with children and young people around Australia to enable them to participate in the federal government’s National Consultation on Human Rights. This consultation sought to find out what Australians think about current human rights protections and how we could do better. We thought it was important that children and young people had a chance to participate in the consultation and express their views about human rights.

At the workshops, we asked participants to think about which human rights are important to them, whether those human rights are currently adequately protected, and what could Australia do to improve protection of those rights?

We had a great response from all the young people who participated in the workshops. They showed us that young people are very interested in human rights issues and are keen to share their views. They also showed us that Australia still has a fair way to go to ensure that all children get the best opportunities in life.

The right to education

One of the primary issues that kids raised at the workshops was the right to education. As you know through your involvement with VIEW Clubs, supporting disadvantaged children through education is essential to giving them better life chances. This view was echoed by the young people at the workshops who clearly felt that education was an important aspect of their wellbeing. I’d like to share with you some of the views that were expressed.

Children and young people in remote areas of Australia expressed concerns that they do not enjoy their right to education on an equal basis with young people in urban areas. They felt that the range of subjects offered is more limited than in urban schools and that teachers are often less-experienced and transient.

Indigenous young people said that they wanted to be able to go to a school that is not too far from their home. They said that moving young people away from their homes and their families makes them homesick. Boarding schools do not suit everyone, so schools should be available in local areas.

Participants from culturally and linguistically diverse communities thought that education about different cultures should be included in schools. Young people thought that more language officers or teachers should be ‘in touch’ with students of different cultural backgrounds.

We heard a number of stories of school yard bullying, often because of a person’s sexual orientation, race or because they failed to ‘fit in’. In one case, we were told that bullying at school had led to suicide. Many young people thought that more should be done to prevent bullying in schools.

The other area where the issue of education was raised in the workshops was in relation to education about human rights.

Many young participants thought that there needed to be a change in attitudes in Australia. It was suggested that one of the ways this could be done was through human rights education – both in the school system and through community education. Some thought that this should be done as early as possible – in kindergarten and when children are learning literacy and numeracy.

While subjects such as Society and Environment, Legal Studies and events such as Harmony Day or Refugee Day were a good way of providing education about human rights, some young people did not feel that they had been taught enough about human rights through those avenues.

One participant said that anything they learn in school about human rights issues is focused on other countries, not Australia.

Understanding the human rights that we hold, and our corresponding responsibilities to respect the rights of others, is an essential part of child development. The Commission believes that human rights education should be included in the curricula of all primary and secondary schools. In addition, human rights training should be made available to government agencies and public authorities, particularly those working with young people, businesses and the broader community.

More generally, the Commission would like to see all governments give higher political priority to children by adopting a comprehensive child-rights-based policy framework which implements Australia’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The creation by the Commonwealth of a statutory office of Australian Children’s Commissioner would send a powerful signal of its commitment to the principles reflected in that Convention. It would also enable the Children’s Commissioner to provide national leadership in the promotion and protection of the human rights of children.

There is, as I am sure we all agree, no higher priority than our children. I firmly believe that it is by understanding their needs and interests in human rights terms, and responding to them accordingly, that we will best ensure the protection, the full development and the wellbeing of Australia’s children.