President Speech: Current issues in human rights (2011)
Commission – General
Current issues in human rights
The Honourable Catherine Branson QC
Charles Darwin University
30 May 2011
I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Larrakia peoples. I pay my respects to their elders both past and present.
Thank you, Nancy, for the warm introduction, and thank you, Nigel, for your welcome to Country. I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak at the Charles Darwin University today, and I thank the Northern Territory Committee on Human Rights Education, the Northern Territory Anti-Discrimination Commission and the Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission for the invitation. May I particularly acknowledge my colleague from the Australian Council of Human Rights Agencies, Mr Eddie Cubillo, the Northern Territory Anti-Discrimination Commissioner, for his role in arranging for me to be here this evening?
It might not come as a surprise for me to tell you that I value education immensely. I value it not only for the intrinsic value of exposure to new ideas and concepts. But because I, like you, know that education is the means through which all people can seek to improve their lives, and the lives of those around them. In this respect, the right to education can be seen as a facilitative right, through which the myriad of other human rights might, or might not be enjoyed, depending on the individual’s access to education.
I am grateful for and value enormously the opportunities that I have had for education. I find it deeply disturbing that many people living in Australia do not currently enjoy their right to education to the full extent that they are entitled.
The Right to Education
Each and every one of us has the right to education. This right is enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. These instruments require that education be socially inclusive, non-discriminatory, adaptable to the needs of diverse communities and of an acceptable quality.
Speaking to an audience of educators and avid learners, I do not need to dwell too much on the importance of the right to education, and the necessity of our governments and communities to ensure that it is enjoyed by all. I will, however, discuss two examples where the right to education has not been sufficiently realised in Australia. These examples are both close to home to you who live in the Northern Territory.
Children in immigration detention
The first is in relation to children in immigration detention.
The Commission has called publically for the end of Australia’s system of mandatory immigration detention for over ten years now. This system breaches Australia’s international human rights obligations and is in desperate need of reform. Most notably, it often results in prolonged and indefinite detention, including of families with children. In addition to being an obvious breach of civil and political rights, this system also affects the multitude of economic social and cultural rights, such as the right to education.
The Commission periodically visits immigration detention centres to monitor conditions of detention. We subsequently release public reports summarising our observations and concerns, all of which are accessible on our website. We also liaise with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship to try to advocate for improvements to what we see.
In September last year, several Commission staff and myself visited immigration detention facilities in Darwin. At the time of the Commission’s visit, there were 248 children in immigration detention in Darwin.[1] We were shocked to find that none of them was at that point attending an external school or kindergarten.[2] Although the majority had been in detention in Darwin for less than three months, 50 children had been here for longer than three months.[3]
It is not surprising that the parents of these children were desperately concerned about the lack of opportunity these children had to receive an education. Specifically, many parents at the Airport Lodge and the Asti Motel expressed significant concerns about their children not being able to attend school – both for the educational opportunities and for the chance to play and socialise in a ‘normal’ environment outside the detention facility.
Educational programs inside detention were also seriously inadequate at the time of the Commission’s visit. Children were only provided with a one hour English class each day. At the Asti Motel, the lack of indoor recreation space meant the classes were held outdoors in the Darwin heat.
Although October 2010 did see the commencement of external schooling for children aged between 5 to 15, we remain concerned that children over 15 have not been allowed to attend external schooling.[4]
Most children in immigration detention now attend external schools. However, it is very concerning that in 2010, some children were denied formal education for a period of many months. The inadequate access to education could have a significantly detrimental impact on these children’s futures. As one unaccompanied minor we met lamented:
‘[Its] very important for us to be in society. We are segregated. We don’t learn anything here. We should be learning.’
Similarly, a ten-year-old girl pleaded:
‘We don’t go to school, how long until I go to school?’
We should have learnt from the treatment of children in immigration detention a decade ago, when, for a number of years, the majority of children were not able to attend external schools.
It is important to note that the majority of children seeking asylum in Australia are eventually recognised as refugees, and become part of the Australian community. Inhibiting the educational opportunities of children in detention not only breaches their human rights, but may also limit their capacity to contribute to Australian society in the future.
Bilingual education
The second example I wish to discuss is the extent to which the right to education is enjoyed in our indigenous communities.
As many of you will be aware, there continues to exist a great disparity between the numbers of Indigenous and non-Indigenous accessing school education.
There are many complex reasons for this disparity. I acknowledge the attempts by both Commonwealth and State and Territory governments to overcome these challenges. However, some basic figures remind us how far we have to go in school attendance rates, with our last census in 2006 indicating that only 36% of Indigenous children aged 17 years were attending school, compared with 66% of non-Indigenous children of the same age.[5]
Realisation of the right to education is not only about whether or not there is a local school in the area you can get to. The Convention on the Rights of the Child also elaborates on the type of education we should give to children. Amongst other things, it specifies that such education should be directed to the:
development of respect for the child's parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, as well as for the national values of the country in which the child is living, the country from which he or she may originate, and for civilizations different from his or her own.
This right to learn about one’s own cultural identity and language was also affirmed most recently in the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People, which was formally endorsed by the Australian Government in 2009. Significantly, Article 14(1) affirms:
Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their educational systems and institutions providing education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning.[6]
However, in Australia, and sadly throughout the world, Indigenous languages are fading at an alarming rate. The loss of Indigenous languages in Australia is a loss for all Australians. Cultural knowledge is carried through languages, so the loss of language means the loss of culture.
Let me stress that I consider it critically important that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children develop high levels of skill in the English language – both spoken and written. Without these skills, they will find their economic and other life choices severely constrained. But the preservation of languages and culture is also important.
Bilingual education is one way to keep Indigenous language and culture alive.[7] Of the 9581 schools that exist in Australia today, only nine schools are bilingual schools, instructing students in their first Indigenous language. Evidence from an Australian study demonstrates marginally better English literacy outcomes for students from bilingual schools at the end of primary school compared with students from non-bilingual schools with similar languages, demography and contact histories.[8]
Bilingual education also has the potential to impact on the health and well-being of Indigenous peoples. Significant research shows that strong culture and identity assists us to develop resilience.
The Government’s adoption of a national policy for the preservation of Indigenous languages (Indigenous Languages - A National Approach 2009) has been a good starting point. However, there remain many challenges to implementing this policy.
I note that here in the Northern Territory, the Government in 2009 made it mandatory for schools to begin each school day with four hours of English literacy. There is reason to fear that this policy may dismantle bilingual education and potentially endanger some of the remaining Indigenous languages.
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has recommended the Australian Government preserve and promote bilingual education at schools.[9]Similar recommendations have also been made by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people[10] and the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.[11]
The Commission, for its part, has also long advocated for the reinstatement of bilingual education approaches in schools. We support the introduction of binding agreements with state and territory governments and sufficient resourcing, so as to ensure the future provision of bilingual education.[12]
Australia is failing our Indigenous communities in this regard, and potentially letting an important part of our nation’s culture fade to the history books.
Human rights education
Distinguishable from the right to education, though inherently linked to it, is the necessity of a human rights education. This is something which is at the very core of much of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s work.
Following the National Human Rights Consultation in 2009, the Consultation Committee recommended that the highest priority be given to human rights education as the path for improving and promoting human rights in Australia. Consequently – and very positively - education about human rights is the centre-piece of Australia’s Human Rights Framework announced by the Attorney-General in April 2010.[13]
What is human rights education?
Human rights education, as I see it, is about building a culture of respect for human rights. It is not only about providing knowledge about human rights and the mechanisms that protect them, but also about imparting the skills needed to promote, defend and apply human rights in daily life.
Human rights are best protected when they are embedded in the way we think and therefore in the ways we act. As was rightly observed as long ago as 1944, if we don’t believe in human rights, then no law, no charter, no parliament and no court will save them.[14]
In 1948, the United Nations affirmed in the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are to be advanced through teaching and education.[15] More recently, the United Nations World Programme for Human Rights Education stated that ‘human rights education aims at developing an understanding of our common responsibility to make human rights a reality in every community and in society at large...’[16]
Broken down further, there are three major elements of human rights education:[17]
- first, the acquisition of knowledge and skills,
- second, the development of respectful values and attitudes and changed behaviour, and
- third, the motivation of social action and empowerment of active citizenship.
That is, once we know what human rights are and where they come from, we can use a human rights framework to analyse a situation, to discuss it with others, and to build a coherent argument for change. Equipped with human rights knowledge and skills, and motivated by human rights values and attitudes, individuals and communities can find the confidence to lay claim to their own rights, as well as to defend the rights of others.
I am therefore delighted that the Darwin community has taken the initiative of establishing the Northern Territory Committee for Human Rights Education. Through Committees such as yours, governments can be lobbied and communities kept informed. You, and similar bodies to you, play a key role in the protection and promotion of human rights in our country.
Violence, harassment and bullying
I will give you an example of human rights education in action, in relation to the Commission’s work tackling violence, harassment and bullying.
In 2005, the Commission put together a compilation of stories about diversity and living together in Australia. In that document, a young girl of 14 from the Northern Territory shared her experience of bullying. She said:
A few years ago a new boy came to my primary school. He was Asian and didn’t speak much English. At lunch times he stayed by himself eating food that no one had ever seen before. Some boys started picking on him – calling him names, throwing rocks at him and pulling their faces so their eyes were squinting. I knew that it was wrong, the boy was helpless, no one was there to help him and I’m not sure he even understood what the boys were saying. I didn’t think there was anything I could do, or maybe I didn’t want to do anything at the risk of being bullied myself. I watched as the boy was tormented and just like him felt helpless. I didn’t know what I could do. I don’t think this sort of bullying is what Australia is supposed to be about....[18]
The Commission is focusing some of its work on people like this 14 year old girl: people who witness bullying, who know that it is wrong and who wonder what their role is in making it stop. We might call them ‘active bystanders’.
Bullying is everyone’s problem. And we are all part of the solution. Taking safe and appropriate action to stop bullying allows all of us to play our part to bring this human rights violation to an end.
The Commission is currently working with a variety of partners to raise the profile of the widespread problem of violence, harassment and bullying in our communities, particularly amongst young people. We are doing this through community education. For example, the Commission has been working in partnership with the online youth mental health service, ReachOut.com to run the ‘Don’t Stand By, Stand Up’ campaign. This campaign encourages young people to stand up to bullies, stand up for their friends, and stand up for other young people who are being bullied by creating an anti-bullying pledge and uploading it to the ReachOut.com Facebook page.
We are also in the process of developing a social marketing campaign which encourages bystanders to take positive, effective and safe action when they witness cyberbullying. It aims to increase young peoples’ awareness of the connection between human rights and responsibilities, moral engagement and bullying. This will be launched later in the year.
So you can see from this example that human rights education can be about identifying a specific human rights concern, and giving people the knowledge and support to take appropriate action to address that concern. It is about empowering people to understand their rights and responsibilities.
Conclusion
Australia is a generally free and prosperous nation in which most people fully enjoy the protection of their human rights. For this, we should be proud. However, there are still many areas in which we fall short of ensuring the protection of human rights for everyone, everywhere, every day.
Whilst compared with many countries Australia has an outstanding system of education, this is by no means extended to all of us. I have taken the opportunity today to mention just a few of the ongoing human rights concerns in the area of education that the Commission, and indeed many others, are working hard every day to address. I do not, for one moment, propose that the solutions to these complex issues are easy or obvious. I do, however, know for a fact that our current system, and many of those that have preceded it, falls short of satisfying Australia’s international human rights obligations. And I know that we can do better.
We can do better through ensuring education for all children in Australia; Indigenous and non-indigenous; asylum seeker and citizen. We can do better through employing human rights education to promote a culture that is respectful of the human rights of all; and in this way build a community that is values diversity and is consequently safe, inclusive and compassionate.
[1] These figures are based on statistics provided by DIAC, current as of 6 September 2010. The age breakdown of the 248 children was as follows: 32 aged 0-5 years; 28 aged 6-10 years; 60 aged 11-15 years; 128 aged 16-17 years.
[2] These figures are based on statistics provided by DIAC, current as of 6 September 2010. The age breakdown of the 248 children was as follows: 32 aged 0-5 years; 28 aged 6-10 years; 60 aged 11-15 years; 128 aged 16-17 years.
[3] These figures are based on statistics provided by DIAC, current as of 6 September 2010.
[4] DIAC informed the Commission that as of 18 October 2010, all children aged 5 to 15 years in detention at the Airport Lodge and the Asti Motel would be attending external schools. Information provided by DIAC showed that as of 13 October 2010 there were 75 minors aged 16 or 17 years in immigration detention at the Asti Motel or the Airport Lodge who were not attending external schools.
[5] Australian Bureau of Statistics Indigenous Statistics for Schools from Population Characteristics, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, Australia, 2006 (cat. no. 4713.0) (2006). At http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/cashome.nsf/4a256353001af3e
d4b2562bb00121564/be2634628102566bca25758b00116c3d!OpenDocument (viewed 24 May 2011).
[6] Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, GA Resolution 61/295, UN Doc A/RES/61/295 (2007), art. 14.1.
[7] Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Study on lessons learned and challenges to achieve the implementation of the right of indigenous peoples to education (2009), UN Doc A/HRC/12/33. At http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/IPeoples/EMRIP/Pages/ExpertMechanism
Documentation.aspx#session1 (viewed 25 May 2011).
[8] Department of Employment, Education and Training, Northern Territory Government, Indigenous Languages and Culture in Northern Territory Schools Report 2004 – 2005, (2004) pp. 34-37.
[9] Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Articles 16 And 17 Of The Covenant, Concluding Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Forty-second session Geneva, 4 to 22 May 2009, para 33. At http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cescr/docs/AdvanceVersions/E-C12-AUS-CO-4.doc (viewed 25 May 2011).
[10] Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, Addendum: Situation of Indigenous Peoples in Australia (2010), UN Doc A/HRC/15 at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/indigenous/rapporteur/countryreports.htm) (viewed 25 May 2011).
[11] Economic and Social Council, Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 9th Session, Draft Report (2010), UN Doc E/C.19/2010/L.2.
[12] Australian Human Rights Commission Australia and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination – Shadow report to the CERD Committee (8 July 2010). At http://www.humanrights.gov.au/legal/submissions/united_nations/ICERD2010.html#fn28 (viewed 19 May 2011).
[13] Commonwealth of Australia, Australia’s Human Rights Framework, 21 April 2010. At http://www.ag.gov.au/humanrightsframework (viewed 21 March 2011).
[14] Billings Learned Hand, ‘The Spirit of Liberty’, Speech delivered in New York on 21 May 1944.
[15] Universal Declaration of Human Rights, GA Resolution 217A(III), UN Doc A/810 (1948), preamble. At http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml (viewed 21 March 2011).
[16] General Assembly, Revised draft plan of action for the first phase (2005-2007) of the World Programme for Human Rights Education, UN Doc A/59/525/Rev.1 (2005), Introduction. At http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/education/training/planaction.htm (viewed 21 March 2011).
[17] United Nations Human Rights Council, Draft plan of action for the second phase (2010-2014) of the World Programme for Human Rights Education, A/HRC/15/28, 27 July 2010. At http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/education/training/secondphase.htm (viewed 21 March 2011).
[18] Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Voices of Australia: 30 years of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 – 2005, 2005, available at http://www.humanrights.gov.au/racial_discrimination/voices/index.html.