Analyzing the Protection of Human Rights in Australia

The essay investigates how human rights are protected under Australian law, analyzing both domestic legal structures and international influences. It explores the role of legislation like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and examines specific cases, such as the introduction of same-sex marriage and issues related to counter-terrorism measures. The discussion highlights Australia's commitment to human rights while acknowledging challenges in fully implementing these protections.

Running head: LAW, SOCIETY AND JUSTICE
Reflective Analysis
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note

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Topic 5: Protection of Human Rights
I have come across the definition and core principles of Human Rights in this chapter. We all
know that the problem regarding the human right is a universal matter and through this
chapter, I came to know when the right can be recognises universally1. The main point I have
made out is that human dignity is base of the human rights. To establish the facts of the
human dignity, certain things are necessary such as justice, equality, freedom and respect. In
my view, equality is the main point to engrave the idea of human rights in the society. Many
scholars that if there is no equality, presence of human rights are impossible have mentioned
it. It helps to provide fair chances to all in the society2.
In my opinion, it is very important to understand the purpose of international human rights
and the role of the same on the national legal system. There are certain institutions that
engaged to promotes the concept of human rights such as United Nation, regional non-
governmental organisations. United Nations had taken several steps for the protection of
human rights and from my view, the related covenants are more important to enact necessary
rules in this behalf. It is a recognised fact that any kind of torture will harm the human dignity
and the concept of human rights are affected by that3. It is the right of every person to express
their view promptly and without any restriction. It has been mentioned by Nelson Mandela
that respect and freedom of others will enhance the scope of human rights. I support the
concept of Nelson Mandela when he said that if the rights of a human being are denied, that
1 Shelton, Dinah, and Paolo G. Carozza. Regional protection of human rights. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press,
2013.
2 Heupel, Monika, Gisela Hirschmann, and Michael Zürn. "International organizations and the protection of
human rights." POLITISCHE VIERTELJAHRESSCHRIFT (2014): 423-+.
3 Donnelly, Jack. Universal human rights in theory and practice. Cornell University Press, 2013.

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affects the humanity of the society. Certain new things have attracted by vision such as the
generation and categories of the human rights. Successful attempt has been made against
genocide, discrimination, torture and rights of the child abuse. It is our duty to establish the
rights in the society. However, in the words of the Martin Luther King, a right delayed is
right denied4.
Topic 12: Immigration, Citizenship & Asylum seekers:
The chapter of information, freedom of expression and Censorship are the main discussed
topic for this week. I have been observed that in Australia, the citizens have certain
opportunities to look into the government documents with certain limitations. The rules
regarding the same have been engraved under the provisions of Freedom of Information Act
1982 (Cth.). Documents accessible under the FOI Act include paper records, plans and
drawings, photographs, tape recordings, films, videotapes or information stored in a
computerised form. After reviewing the facts of the principles, the objective of the Act in my
view is to promote Australia’s representative democracy by contributing to increasing public
participation in Government processes and thereby promoting better-informed decision-
making, increasing scrutiny, discussion, comment and review of government activities.
However, the system has been criticised a lot and it has been mentioned that the
accountability of the government is not ensured by the Act and the amendment of the
personal information is misleading in nature. Releasing information from the government
means weighing the public’s right to know against the need for national security and
individual privacy. It is important to make available timely and accurate information to
public. Communications should be open, honest, accurate, and based on sound science.
4 Forsythe, David P. Human rights in international relations. Cambridge University Press, 2017.

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Information not to be withheld to protect Government from criticism or embarrassment.
Information will be released according to FOI Act. It must balance between the social needs
of the community and the liberty of the individual.
I have come to know about the application of the privacy Act and its effect to secure the
personal information and the credit information.
Topic 11: Terrorism & Security:
In this week, I have learned the protocols of the war on terror. The advantage and the
disadvantages of the same have been discussed regarding the trial of the terrorism related
cases in the civil court. The advantage is there are certain increment regarding the human
rights and the rights to get justice can be established5. On the other hand, the disadvantage is
that the human security can be hampered if the terrorists bring before the civil court. In my
opinion, the disadvantage of the same is stronger and it should be tried in military court or
other special courts.
The case on Burqa banning is related to the emotion of religion and segregates the woman in
public. It snatches their rights to communicate with the people freely. Therefore, from my
point, to secure the right to equality, burqa should be banned. However, there are two types of
concept present regarding the topic. As per the radicals, use of Burqa has been mentioned in
Quran and therefore, it should not be banned. Australia has to face many problems regarding
the terrorism and become a threat for the humankind. However, I have observed that media is
playing an important role by publicizing the acts of the terrorists. The government has to
adopt strict rule to combat these terror attacks and cancellation of citizenship can be proved
5 Allars, Margaret. "Freedom of Information Legislation in Australia: A Review." Revue Internationale des
Gouvernements Ouverts 5 (2017): 1-12.

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as a solution. The main reason is that their acts are opposed to the principle of civic society
and they should be marked as the destroyer of humankind. If their citizenship can be
cancelled, it can be presumed that to certain extent, they will limit their acts and may be
prevented from spreading terrorism.
Topic 10: Information, freedom of expression and Censorship:
After go through the chapter, I have learnt that this week discussed about the form of
terrorism. There is a growing mentality observed among the young Australians about the
terrorism and they are leaning over the terrorist groups. The most common form of terrorism
is transnational terrorism. In my view, government has to play an important role to curb the
curse of terrorism and therefore, certain effective measures should have to take by them. It
has been observed that the terrorists are spreading their messages through media and internet.
Therefore, censorship should be imposed on certain channel or sites. If the media does not
follow the necessary rules, they should be banned. In my opinion, the journalists need not get
information from the agencies because as per the Freedom of Expression Act, anyone can get
informed about certain limited edition of the government documents6.
Another problem faced by the teenager is the effect of pornography that prove
epidemic among them. The system of metadata helps to identify the other data that can later
be discovered. It is of three kinds- descriptive, structural and administrative. The activities of
a person can be traced by way of telecommunications or web satellite. These are the parts of
the metadata.
6 Khan, A., et al. "Longitudinal trends in global obesity research and collaboration: a review using bibliometric
metadata." Obesity Reviews 17.4 (2016): 377-385.

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Among many topics, one of it is the provision on statutory cause of action. It includes
the interference in the life of the others and the individuals have to reveal certain things that
he wants not to be disclosed. Cyber crime is also become a part of the terrorism. It has been
observed that the terrorists are engaging them to obtain information from internet. Therefore,
it is required to secure the system so that it could not possible to hack the same. Firewalls
should be installed in the system.
Topic 9: Stolen generation:
I have learned about the aboriginal genocide in this week and it has been observed
that in nineteenth century, the government assimilates many aboriginals and they have been
removed forcibly from their family. The policy of the government made the generation
almost extinct. Therefore, that can be treated as genocide to certain extent7. The main reason
behind the same was to train the aboriginals so that they can habituate in the modern
Australian society. However, in my opinion, for the betterment of any community, their
motherland or mother language plays an important role. Therefore, from my point of view,
practice of removal of the child from his or her native land was not for the best interest of the
children8. The indigenous Australians are renowned as the stolen generation, they have to
face trauma regarding the acts of the government, and it has been observed that they have to
face serious injustice and most of them have been victimised by the governments.
It has been observed by me that there is a spree among the young aboriginals to
commit crime. The main reason is the social attitude towards them that forced the young
member get involved in the crimes and it has been observed that the criminal justice system
7 Ingram, Alan. Spaces of security and insecurity: Geographies of the war on terror. Routledge, 2016.
8 Cherney, Adrian, and Kristina Murphy. "Being a ‘suspect community’in a post 9/11 world–The impact of the
war on terror on Muslim communities in Australia." Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology 49.4
(2016): 480-496.

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of Australia is also not supported the social price of the individuals. In many cases, it has
been observed by me that the police detained them in jail without providing an opportunity to
be tried before court. This is the main reason that the aboriginals overlap the prisons9. I also
support the equality system and in my opinion, the aboriginals need to be treated well as they
are from the minority community. Indigenous are facing serious misbehaviour from the
states. It is required to prevent them from being violated. In my opinion, any kind of
discrimination is bad and the main essence of positive discrimination is to treat the backward
classes so that they may able to adapt the trendy culture. I think everyone has the right to
maintain his or her own culture and it is not necessary to follow the trendy culture. Lyn
Austin had expressed her view regarding compensation to the aboriginals for the crime
committed against them.
Topic 8: Indigenous Australians and native title:
The Mabo case has opened a historical phase regarding the land law of Australia. The
doctrine of no man’s land for the aboriginals has been abolished by this. It protects the
interest of the aboriginals and therefore the relationship with the non-aboriginals is to be
changed a bit but I do not think that the status has been developed through this case. The
unequal treatment of the aboriginals is still a problem for the society of Australia and I think
government should give the rights on land and water to the aboriginals as they are enjoying
the rights as per their law since long time. If the rights are being taken from them,
government has to compensate the aboriginals for the same10. This case is important, as it is
the first case that promised to pay compensation to the aboriginals regarding their land, if
acquired by the government. Compensations are given for the extinguishment of the rights
9 Minear, Richard H. Victors' Justice: Tokyo War Crimes Trial. Princeton University Press, 2015.
10 Bouma, Gary D. "Religion and Other Ideologies in Political Life." Religion after Secularization in
Australia (2015): 211.

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and title of natives. However, it has been observed that there are many Acts enacted for the
betterment of the indigenous people so they can develop their status. One of such Act is the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Act 2013 (Cth). There are
certain differences can be observed in between the above named Act and the other
enactments. The main difference is that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
Recognition Act 2013 (Cth) has been in force only for two years and the other Acts will be
prevailed until any amendment made regarding the application of the same11. It has been
observed that certain referendum have been taken by the people for securing various rights to
the aboriginals. Those rights include the right to vote, right to be treated equally etc. As per
David Hume, people power is the most important referendum and the rights can be given to
the aboriginals if most of the votes are casted for the change.
Topic 7: Family law and relationship:
I have observed that marriage and divorce are the social wings and there is a
difference in between the divorce and matrimonial causes. Due to this reason, they are written
separately in the Act. Under the matrimonial causes, the provision regarding the malicious
jactitation, nullity of marriage and the restitution of conjugal rights have been mentioned. On
the other hand, divorce can be of mutual settlement and the ground of the same could not
based on the cruelty or adultery12. In every community, there are separate laws applicable and
aboriginals are the ancient community of Australia and therefore, they are following own
11 Polya, Gideon. "Ongoing Aboriginal Genocide And Aboriginal Ethnocide By Politically Correct Racist
Apartheid Australia." (2014).
12 Barker, Renae. "Rebutting the Ban the Burqa Rhetoric: A Critical Analysis of the Arguments for a Ban on the
Islamic Face Veil in Australia." Adel. L. Rev. 37 (2016): 191.

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customary law but that is not recognised under any law. In my opinion, the marriage should
have to be recognised so that they can get the social establishment too.
The inner society of Australia is suffered from many problems and domestic violence
are one of them. Gender problem is the main reason regarding the domestic violence in the
provinces of Australia. In Australia, the Family Law Act 1975 applied on the person who
tries to coerce or controls the other member of the family and acts violently13. I have seen that
the de-facto relationship is excluding the common law parlance and if any or both the
partners are engaged in monogamous life, then it is up to the other partners whether they
wanted to continue the relationship or not. I support that if a person has to marry or give
consent for marriage under duress, he or she has the right to annul the marriage.
Topic 3: Justice and miscarriage:
Two types of justice system have been observed in this week such as retributive and
restorative. In retributive justice, it is presumed that the whole state is the victim. In this
system, punishment is necessary and it has been shown that the offender owes certain duties
to the society, whereas, in restorative justice, victim denotes an individual or the community.
This justice system defines the nature of the crime and impact of the same on the community.
Punishment is not the only primary solution in this case. Good behaviour to the offender may,
in certain times change their offensive mentalities. Victims are central pivotal in this system.
The main disadvantages of both the system are victims are not the main thing; they
play certain peripheral role in retributive justice system. This system looks at the past
incidents of the perpetrator. The only preventive method adopted in this process is
punishment or inflicted pain on the offenders. In restorative justice negotiation is considered
13 Woodhead, Michael. "Australian doctor challenges government over child detention" torture"." BMJ: British
Medical Journal (Online) 352 (2016).

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as a recognised process and therefore it allows the offender to compensate the victim. In
serious events, this principle is not appropriate14.
The Australian judicial system was affected from the wrongful conviction and DNA
based exoneration can be a solution regarding the same as pointed out by Weathered Lynne.
Problems can be resolved by DNA identification15.
The case of John Batton is based on the justification of ex gartia that is given by state
for wrong conviction. However, in my opinion, money should not be used as a medicine
regarding the trauma and therefore these payments are unable to consider as sufficient to give
justice to the innocent person as against wrongful conviction16. Same incident occurred with
Darryl Beamish and in my view; these should have to be stopped as to secure the interest of
the innocent person. It is truly wrong if this payment is taken by the state as excuse.
Otherwise, justice will be denied if the process will go on.
Topic 6 protection of Human Rights and Equality:
Australia is an epicentre for the refugee rehabilitation and enacted several laws to
promote the human rights. One of such Act is Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act
2011 (Cth.). The purpose of the Act is to promote the human rights through international
covenants and meetings. I think the human rights can be established through equality. The
principle of rule of law is appropriate for that. A society where the government is depending
14 Gerstmann, Evan. Same-sex Marriage and the Constitution. Cambridge University Press, 2017.
15 Reavley, Nicola J., and Anthony F. Jorm. "Experiences of discrimination and positive treatment in people
with mental health problems: Findings from an Australian national survey." Australian & New Zealand Journal
of Psychiatry 49.10 (2015): 906-913.
16 Tomuschat, Christian. Human rights: between idealism and realism. OUP Oxford, 2014.

10LAW, SOCIETY AND JUSTICE
on the rule of law is being known as nomocracy. The base of the matter is promoted the idea
of civil society17.
Ill-treatment in Nauru has become a serious threat regarding the human rights. It has
been observed that the refugees of the island had to face severe abuse and suicidal mentality
has been grown up among them. I support the view of the Director of Amnesty International
that the refugees who have arrived in Australia by boat, have to face grievous torture and they
have been detained in jail for no reason. Therefore, I opposed the policy of the government
regarding the refugees in Nauru as it has breached the right to safety and freedom18.
Toonen v Australia is based on sexual orientation and the plaintiff of the case is a residual
of Tasmania. It has been alleged by him that the sodomy laws of Australia regarding
consensual sex is against the right to privacy and therefore, section 122 and 123 is
differentiating gay men from the side of law. It has also been observed that the plaintiff was
fired from his job due to the complaint and the government had enacted certain rules to
criminalise the gay sex. The Human Rights Committee has asserted their views by stating
that government should not differentiated the gay men and they should be treated equally19.
17 Burke, Paul. "Native Title from Mabo to Akiba: A Vehicle for Change and Empowerment? edited by Sean
Brennan, Megan Davis, Brendan Edgeworth and Leon Terrill." Anthropological Forum. Vol. 27. No. 2.
Routledge, 2017.
18 Muzio, Daniel, et al. "Bad barrels and bad cellars: a ‘boundaries’ perspective on professional misconduct."
(2016): 141-175.
19 Humphrey, Carla, and Mary Chiarella. "Legal frameworks for practice in Australia and New
Zealand." Midwifery-E-Book: Preparation for Practice (2015): 304.

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Topic 2: Ethical Obligations:
As a part of the legal system, I think that the professional ethics should have to
maintain by all the legal professionals. It has been proved in many cases that the students and
the professionals should keep in mind that they are the part of the noble profession and they
have to act for the interest of justice. Misconduct includes plagiarism, collusion and
misrepresentation20.
It is well known to me that the practical situation that has been faced by the lawyers and the
law students. The main reason in my view is the heavy workload and competitive nature of
the legal outsources. Lack of connection and strong backgrounds are also included under
these problems.
The law schools should have to design programs regarding the promotion of the mental
health and proper counselling is needed to deal with the problem. Proper training should be
given to the junior lawyers and mental counselling is important to proactive the lawyers. The
lawyers should not adopt any fraudulent way and should not delay the legal process. They
should follow the rule of law for securing the interest of justice.
The ethical obligation is quite specific in my opinion and it has been stated that every
lawyer should have to follow the rules for the interest of justice. I has lo been mentioned that
if any lawyer has failed to perform the duties, he or she has to face civil proceeding regarding
the same. The observation of John Britton has been concentrated on the professional rules
and ethical obligations and it has been rightly observed by him that modern regulatory system
is no longer remains proactive. As a law student, I will apply my presence of mind and will
20 Sklar, Tara, et al. "Characteristics of Lawyers Who are Subject to Complaints and Misconduct Findings."
(2017).

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not attempt to steal or copy anything. I have to follow the professional ethics and should act
within the purview of law.

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Reference
Allars, Margaret. "Freedom of Information Legislation in Australia: A Review." Revue
Internationale des Gouvernements Ouverts 5 (2017): 1-12.
Barker, Renae. "Rebutting the Ban the Burqa Rhetoric: A Critical Analysis of the Arguments
for a Ban on the Islamic Face Veil in Australia." Adel. L. Rev. 37 (2016): 191.
Booth, Sue, and Jillian Whelan. "Hungry for change: the food banking industry in
Australia." British Food Journal 116.9 (2014): 1392-1404.
Bouma, Gary D. "Religion and Other Ideologies in Political Life." Religion after
Secularization in Australia (2015): 211.
Burke, Paul. "Native Title from Mabo to Akiba: A Vehicle for Change and Empowerment?
edited by Sean Brennan, Megan Davis, Brendan Edgeworth and Leon
Terrill." Anthropological Forum. Vol. 27. No. 2. Routledge, 2017.
Cherney, Adrian, and Kristina Murphy. "Being a ‘suspect community’in a post 9/11 world–
The impact of the war on terror on Muslim communities in Australia." Australian & New
Zealand Journal of Criminology 49.4 (2016): 480-496.
Donnelly, Jack. Universal human rights in theory and practice. Cornell University Press,
2013.
Drew, Sharon, and Gareth Jones. "Costly ethical issues in legal practice." Precedent (Sydney,
NSW) 123 (2014): 44.
Forsythe, David P. Human rights in international relations. Cambridge University Press,
2017.

14LAW, SOCIETY AND JUSTICE
Gerstmann, Evan. Same-sex Marriage and the Constitution. Cambridge University Press,
2017.
Heupel, Monika, Gisela Hirschmann, and Michael Zürn. "International organizations and the
protection of human rights." POLITISCHE VIERTELJAHRESSCHRIFT (2014): 423-+.
Humphrey, Carla, and Mary Chiarella. "Legal frameworks for practice in Australia and New
Zealand." Midwifery-E-Book: Preparation for Practice (2015): 304.
Ingram, Alan. Spaces of security and insecurity: Geographies of the war on terror. Routledge,
2016.
Khan, A., et al. "Longitudinal trends in global obesity research and collaboration: a review
using bibliometric metadata." Obesity Reviews 17.4 (2016): 377-385.
Mah, Richard. "Information sharing for counter-terrorism in Canada after 9/11: issues in the
administrative coordination of multi-agency intelligence. A comparative study between
Canada, the UK and Australia." (2014).
Minear, Richard H. Victors' Justice: Tokyo War Crimes Trial. Princeton University Press,
2015.
Muzio, Daniel, et al. "Bad barrels and bad cellars: a ‘boundaries’ perspective on professional
misconduct." (2016): 141-175.
Pearson, Mark, and Joseph M. Fernandez. "Censorship in Australia: Intrusions into media
freedom flying beneath the international free expression radar." Pacific Journalism
Review21.1 (2015): 40.
Polya, Gideon. "Ongoing Aboriginal Genocide And Aboriginal Ethnocide By Politically
Correct Racist Apartheid Australia." (2014).

15LAW, SOCIETY AND JUSTICE
Reavley, Nicola J., and Anthony F. Jorm. "Experiences of discrimination and positive
treatment in people with mental health problems: Findings from an Australian national
survey." Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 49.10 (2015): 906-913.
Reis, Rob. "Best practice: Payment of legal costs from the trust account." Ethos: Official
Publication of the Law Society of the Australian Capital Territory 237 (2015): 10.
Roberts, Donna, Peter Chamberlain, and Paul Delfabbro. "Women's experiences of the
processes associated with the family court of Australia in the context of domestic violence: A
thematic analysis." Psychiatry, Psychology and Law 22.4 (2015): 599-615.
Shelton, Dinah, and Paolo G. Carozza. Regional protection of human rights. Vol. 1. Oxford
University Press, 2013.
Sklar, Tara, et al. "Characteristics of Lawyers Who are Subject to Complaints and
Misconduct Findings." (2017).
Smith, Pamela A., et al. "Scientific evidence for the identification of an Aboriginal massacre
at the Sturt Creek sites on the Kimberley frontier of north-western Australia." Forensic
Science International 279 (2017): 258-267.
Strang, Heather, and John Braithwaite, eds. Restorative justice: Philosophy to practice.
Routledge, 2017.
Tomuschat, Christian. Human rights: between idealism and realism. OUP Oxford, 2014.
van der Toorn, Jojanneke, et al. "In defense of tradition: Religiosity, conservatism, and
opposition to same-sex marriage in North America." Personality and Social Psychology
Bulletin 43.10 (2017): 1455-1468.

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Woodhead, Michael. "Australian doctor challenges government over child detention"
torture"." BMJ: British Medical Journal (Online) 352 (2016).