Examining Human Rights and Legal Obligations in Australian Law

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of human rights and legal obligations in Australia, emphasizing their importance in organizational settings. It discusses key Australian legislations such as the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, the Age Discrimination Act 2004, and the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, highlighting their roles in promoting equality and preventing discrimination in the workplace. The essay also examines Australia's commitment to international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, underscoring the country's obligations under international law. Furthermore, it addresses the significance of workplace safety and the role of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in ensuring product safety and consumer protection. The essay concludes by emphasizing the need for organizations to adhere to these human rights and legal obligations to foster a positive work environment, maintain ethical standards, and gain a competitive advantage.

Running head: HUMAN RIGHTS
HUMAN RIGHTS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

HUMAN RIGHTS
Human rights are universal and they are for everyone at any place at any time
(Kempadoo, Sanghera & Pattanaik, 2015). The rights are based on values such as equality,
dignity freedom and the right to protect the quality of life. The human rights include the
following rights to the people of Australia- a fair trial, free speech, vote, free from discrimination
of age, sex or race, protection from arbitrary imprisonments, education, protection form violence
etc. The human rights help the people to get their basic right and this ensures equality in the
society. An obligation is a set of rules by which the parties are bound to refrain or act from
acting. Legal obligation means performing duties according to the law. A person who is bound to
do something, which is described in the law have to that thing if he/she failed to do so then legal
obligation cam be taken against that person.. For example, according to the legal obligations of
Australia, all the earning citizen of Australia has to pay the income tax. If any person failed to
pay the income tax or try to invade the taxes will be imposed fines and may be imprisonment.
Similarly citizens also have some legal obligations towards other people for example an earning
adult is liable to look after their parents who does not have any means of living.
Human rights are a necessary aspect in every organization. The employee tends to work
effectively if they get proper equality and the rights that they deserve. Without proper human
rights they tend to lack interests and working motivation in the organization. To be effective and
efficient the organization need to be unbiased similarly the employee needs to follow the legal
obligations in the organization. The legal obligations will ensure that there is no corruption or
fraud in the operational process. It will also help to maintain the proper rules and regulations
within the organizational workplace. According to , one of the major issues that the organizations
in Australia faces is the religious discrimination. To stop this issue the Australian government
have include the racial discrimination act 1975, which promotes equality among all the

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employees and the citizens of Australia regardless of their race, religion, colour and ethnic or
national origin. It stated that people discriminating others by these characteristics will be illegal
and unlawful. These ensured Australian workplace to be more diverse and effective. When the
racial discrimination is stopped the Australian organizations have become more successful as it
helped them to gather the best employee. There are countries where the religious discrimination
affects the overall performance of the organization; one of the examples is India. Religious
discrimination causes conflict in the organization and it also lead towards a bad workplace
environment which can prove to be a major issue in the long run. To be effective and efficient
the organization needs to follow the racial discrimination act. Another important issue is the age
discrimination. This means the employees are discriminated and are less favoured according to
the age. To protect the employees from this discrimination the Australian introduced the age
discrimination act 2004 which ensures that the people of Australia will not be treated less
favourably depending on their age in the various filed for example employment, education,
provision of services and goods (Ford, 2013). It gives equal opportunity to the deserving
candidates. This will help the organization to find better and effective employee for their
workplace. The disability discrimination act of 1992 is formed with the motto to eliminate the
discrimination against the physically challenged people (Widiss, 2012). This act promotes the
community acceptance that physically challenged people have the same rights as all the members
present in the community. This law helps the people to get the equal opportunity as rest of us.
Though this act is not viable in most of the organization where the human strength is required.
These types of acts help them to get forget about their disability and focus on their purpose or
aim. The religious discrimination act, age discrimination acts are the primary things that the
organization in Australia have to take in consideration. It develops a positive work environment

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and also increases the job satisfaction as the employees are being judged on their merit and
quality rather than on their physical appearance. Apart from this there are other acts that ensure
safety to the customer of Australia. One such act is enforced by Australian Competition and
Consumer Commission (ACCC) to enforce the necessary product safety and the information
standards (Richards et al., 2012). This act also enforce bans of unsafe products which is declared
under Competitive and consumer act 2012. Product safety is vital as the customers in Australia
are very health conscious. This act instructs the organizations to provide clear instruction for the
products, including warnings and the possible misuse of the product. This act also instructs the
employees to be aware of the mandatory quality standards to offer the product to the Australian
community. These are some of the human rights that the organization has to include during the
planning for their future actions.
Australia is an important party to in the seven key international human rights treaties.
Australia has agreed and signed up on the following treaties- the international covenant on civil
and political rights (ICCPR) (Joseph & Castan, 2013). This treaty explains that the entire
individual has the civil and the political rights, which includes the right to freedom, right to life,
right to religion, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, electoral rights and the right to have a
fair trial. Australia has also signed for The International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights. It commits its parties to work toward the granting of economic, social, and
cultural rights (ESCR) to the non-self-governing and trust territories and individuals,
including labour rights and the right to health, the right to education, and the right to an adequate
standard of living (Koh, Getgen & Sital, 2017). Employee safety is highly requires in the
organization as the workplace is full of potential threats and accidents can happen at any time in
the organization. The above mentioned acts promote safety to the working environment. Safety

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is the first and the primary rights in the organization. The balance between the human rights and
the legal obligations are highly necessary. All the organizations have to follow these rules to
continue the smooth flowing of their organization. There are other treaties that Australia has
signed for. The Convention on all forms of racial discrimination is another treaty that Australia
has signed for. The following obligations suggest that the employee of the organization should
not be treated unequally according to their casts and religions. These treaties, which Australia
has voluntarily entered in, set out in clear terms Australia's international human rights
obligations. Under international law, Australia is bound to comply with their provisions and to
implement them domestically.
The Law Council uses these instruments to evaluate Australia's human rights
performance, particularly when assessing the appropriateness of proposed legislative or policy
reforms (Molenaar, 2012). The Law council encourages the Australian government to follow up
in an more effective and timely manner to conclude the recommendation and the observation of
the United Nations Human Rights Council and international human rights treaty bodies, by
following the relevant and guidelines with the participation of the civil society organizations.
The Law Council holds special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social
Council (Krook & True, 2012). This status enhances the Law Council’s ability to engage with
and contribute to the work of the United Nations Committees and bodies, and supports the Law
Council’s advocacy directed at ensuring Australia complies with its obligations under
international law. If the organizations in Australia want to gain a competitive advantage over
their rivals then it is highly necessary for them to follow the rules that are set by the government
(Barney, 2012). Fraud or illegal activities can lead the organization to some serious loss which
can hamper the reputation of the company.

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