Human Rights and Advocacy in Australia

Running head: HUMAN RIGHTS AND ADVOCACY IN AUSTRALIA
Human Rights and Advocacy in Australia
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1HUMAN RIGHTS AND ADVOCACY IN AUSTRALIA
Individuals often believe that the human rights in Australia are strictly implemented in
practical life. However, this is totally a wrong concept. The Constitution of Australia
provides very limited protection for Human Rights. The Australian Government has breached
a number of human rights (Freeman, 2017). In the recent years, there has been a breach in the
rights of the natives of the Australia and there has been breaches regarding the arbitrary
detainment of the immigrants. In the year 2013-14 the government tried to improve the
Discrimination Act 1991. Further, the analysis of effectiveness of the Equal Opportunity Act
2010 was handed to the department of judiciary. The government also made amendments in
the Human Rights Act 2004 by incorporating the right to education. There was a change as
well in the Anti-Discriminatory Act 1998 in 2012.The South Australian Government has
reviewed the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988 in 2012 to preserve the aboriginal heritage sites
("Human Rights Australia", 2018).The Australian Government has pledged in front of the
United Nations to improve the condition of human rights.
There are numerous options for improving the human rights in Australia. The
amendments that are made are not satisfactory in context to Australia. Equity before law,
freedom of expression, freedom from cruelty and torture and the right to vote are the major
instruments of the human rights (Forsythe, 2017). The government should also try
introducing the federal equity act. There should be also effective steps taken if the rights of a
person is breached. Introduction of the federal Human Rights Act is also a matter of great
concern.Emphasis should be put on improving the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988 and the
Anti-Discriminatory Act 1998. The arbitrary detainment of the immigrants should be stopped
by the government.The parliamentary committee should review whether the human right acts
are implemented in a proper manner. Lastly, the most important legislative option is to
construct a National Action Plan based on the human rights (Donnelly, 2013).