Building understanding and respect for human rights - Annual Report 2011-2012: Australian Human Rights Commission

The year in review

Building understanding and respect for human rights

In order for us to realise the Commission’s vision of a society where human rights are for everyone, everywhere, every day, we have made building understanding and respect for human rights one of our two key policy priorities. We are seeking to lift the level of consciousness within the Australian community of the importance of human rights to the maintenance of our free, democratic, inclusive and peaceful society.

Building human rights knowledge in communities

Working with the public sector

There are new requirements for all proposed legislation in the federal Parliament to be considered through a human rights lens. This makes it important that the public sector has a comfortable working knowledge of human rights in practice. To this end, we have worked closely with the Attorney-General’s Department in the design and development of a range of educational initiatives and resources for the Commonwealth public sector.

In September 2011, Commission President, Catherine Branson, launched the Australian Public Service Human Rights Network, which provides a forum for Australian public servants to come together and discuss how human rights relate to their work.

The Network provides an informal setting for discussion and dialogue about human rights. It uses the priorities set in Australia’s Human Rights Framework as a foundation from which to foster human rights awareness in the Commonwealth public sector. After less than 12 months, the network consists of over 600 public servants.

Network events have considered how public policy can improve gender equality and women’s rights by incorporating a gender-conscious approach into policy development processes, and the critical role of the APS in respecting, protecting and promoting rights of people with disabilities, including through employment in the APS.

Working with educators

The Commission has worked collaboratively with the Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority (ACARA) to identify how human rights can be reflected in all learning areas of the national curriculum.

In 2012, we made submissions to ACARA on the draft Geography curriculum and on the Health and Physical Education curriculum. We also participated in national consultation forums on the development of the Civics and Citizenship, and the Economics and Business curricula.

We are continuing to advocate for a greater understanding of human rights principles through formal and informal education channels. In May 2012, we hosted an NGO roundtable on human rights education.

 

Working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities

We are committed to improving community and government understanding about the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In 2010, we published a set of resources that provided information about the Declaration. This year we have distributed over 25,000 copies of the posters, community guides and summary guides to educators and communities across Australia.

We have also developed a guide on the Declaration for use by other National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI). This guide was developed in partnership with the Asia Pacific Forum of NHRIs, United Nations Development Program and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Commission has continued to host the Indigenous Peoples’ Organisations Network (IPO). The IPO brings together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations nationally and coordinates their engagement in international processes, such as the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The IPO has an important youth leadership component and has provided international experience and support to many emerging leaders.

 

Working with Australian Muslim communities

In May 2012, we completed a pilot project developing a Certificate IV in Human Rights Education and Advocacy. The Certificate IV was designed specifically for community development workers who engage with Muslim women, although it has a high level of transferability across the community development sector.

The project was designed and piloted in a partnership with community organisations, including Information and Cultural Exchange and the Bankstown Area Multicultural Network. Certificate level accreditation was provided through Sydney Outreach (TAFE).

A diverse group of fifteen participants completed the 10 week course and were trained in human rights complaints processes, using social and digital media for social change and developing rights based approaches in their workplace and with the communities they work with. The course aimed to train participants to think critically and deeply about human rights and advocacy, as well as to learn how to apply human rights approaches to and in their work.

Working with African Australian communities

Over the past year the Commission delivered workshops on human rights education and advocacy on particular human rights issues facing African Australian communities. Roundtables were held

in Western Sydney (July 2011) and Perth (September 2011). A copy of the report on these proceedings is available on the website at: www.humanrights.gov.au/africanaus/2011_roundtables/index.html

We also contributed to the development to the draft Programme of Action for the International Decade for People of African Descent (2013-2023). In March 2012, we provided a response to a questionnaire circulated by the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent that looked at national initiatives taken with regard to the promotion and protection of the rights of people of African descent. It is available at: www.humanrights.gov.au/africanaus/wgpad_response/index.html

Human rights education in communities

Under the Australian Human Rights Framework, the Australian Government established the Human Rights Education Grants Scheme which funds community organisations to deliver practical, grassroots, human rights education projects.

The Commission has collaborated with the Attorney-General’s Department, and community organisations that received grants in 2010 and 2011, to better understand what leads to effective human rights education in community settings.

 

Complaint about sexual harassment and discrimination on the grounds of sex, age, race and religion in employment

 

Informing and engaging Australians

Using online technology

The Commission uses a range of media platforms and technologies to communicate to different sectors of the community.

In December 2011, we launched two websites aimed at increasing community engagement and understanding and respect for rights. Something In Common and its facts-driven microsite Tell Me Something I Don’t Know, are designed to make human rights meaningful and accessible, and to provide an online space for people share their stories about every day and extraordinary human rights action.

Information posted to these sites is pushed through to Twitter and Facebook. Something in Common enables direct engagement with issues, not only by providing information, but by giving users the opportunity to add their own stories and contributions to the site, respond to polls and commit to taking a number of online and offline actions. It is now integrated into our project planning as a means of diversifying the way in which we engage with the community.

In September 2011, we launched the Age Discrimination Commissioner’s Age Positive microsite on the Commission’s website, which aims to challenge the negative stereotypes that exist about older people in the community and, in particular, in the workplace.

Featuring authentic stories submitted by older people themselves, or their family or friends, Age Positive is intended to show that older people continue to be dynamic and active contributors in their community regardless of age (www.humanrights.gov.au/age-positive). We have since added an Age Positive Facebook page from which we share other stories about positive ageing and age discrimination issues from the media and wider community.

Our YouTube channel, on which we share video highlights of our major events and projects, has proven successful with over 45,000 video views. We have 28, 984 subscribers for our electronic mailing lists and our online ‘Podrights’ podcasts, which are released to our website every second Monday, continue to attract strong audiences.

The Commission is also committed to engaging with the community through Web 2.0 technology, using and sharing real stories to raise awareness and communicate with people through social media. We have also begun a significant upgrade of the technical capabilities of our website, which we expect will go live in late 2012. During 2011-2012 our website received 17,854,567 visitors. This represents an increase of 23.7 percent increase in visits over the previous year. A summary of website statistics is provide at Appendix 3.

The media

This year we have expanded our promotional channels for information delivery so that our media releases are linked to Facebook and Twitter. We also began featuring news stories on the front page of our website to promote initiatives, events, publications and other matters of significance to the Commission. We had 19 opinion pieces published in newspapers, journals, magazines and online publications: www.humanrights.gov.au/about/media/op_ed.html.

The addition of two new full-time Commissioners has meant an increase in the amount of media interaction in which the Commission is involved. During 2011-12, the President and Commissioners received approximately 1005 requests for interviews from print, radio, television and online journalists.

Publications

Every year, we prepare a broad range of materials, from plain-language brochures and community guides to major reports and submissions. These resources are all available on our website in accessible formats and most are also published in hard copy format. With differing audiences in mind, we also produce DVDs and CDs.

During 2011-12, we distributed 31,285 publications and resources in response to 656 requests. In addition, resources were also distributed by Commissioners and staff at community consultations and public events.

Presentations and education

Over the last 12 months, the President and Commissioners addressed a broad range of conferences, seminars and public events. A selection of these speeches is available on our website at www.humanrights.gov.au/about/media/speeches.

Our staff delivered information sessions about current projects, federal human rights laws and the Commission’s complaint process to audiences in all states and territories, including legal and advocacy groups, professional associations, unions, multicultural organisations and universities.

We also provide training in statutory investigation and conciliation for Commission staff, and staff of other relevant organisations. A number of in-house training courses were held in the past 12 months.

 

Recognising Australia’s human rights champions

We present the Human Rights Awards every year in celebration of Human Rights Day, 10 December. The awards acknowledge the exceptional work being undertaken in our community, businesses and media in relation to human rights issues.

Our 24th Awards ceremony was held on 9 December 2011. The prestigious Human Rights Medal was awarded to The Hon Ron Merkel QC for his work as a human rights advocate, particularly with Aboriginal communities, and for his human rights work as a legal practitioner, particularly in relation to ensuring access to justice for marginalised people. The Young People’s Human Rights Medal was awarded to Tshibanda Gracia Ngoy, who, through her work with youth from refugee backgrounds, international students and the general community, strives hard to better the lives of people around her.

We are grateful for the support of our major sponsors Rio Tinto, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, iHR Australia, the Law Council of Australia, The Co-op Bookshop, Vibe Australia, Avant Card, the David Unaipon College of Indigenous Education and Research, Network Printing Studios, On Line Opinion and TrophyLand.

A full list of Award recipients is available at: www.humanrights.gov.au/hrawards/winners/2011.html