National Plan of Action

  • Legislation and Implementation

BACKGROUND AND CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS

The Australian government has implemented a number of different plans of action to address specific areas affecting child rights, such as the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and Children, the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children and the National Human Rights Strategic Plan. However, the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) continues to call for a National Plan of Action for the implementation Convention on the Rights of the Child in order to promote the clear and holistic adoption of the Convention and clear mechanisms linking outcomes to other, already established national plans.

Accordingly, the CRC has recommended that the Australian government:

  • Develop and implement a comprehensive strategy for the overall realisation of the principles and provisions of the Convention in consultation with children and civil society, providing a framework for states and territories to adopt similar plans; and
  • Allocate adequate human, technical and financial resources for the implementation of this comprehensive strategy and plan of action.

MINIMUM STANDARDS UNDER THE CONVENTION

  • Article 4: The government should make all rights under the Convention available to all children
  • Article 42: The government should make the Convention known to all parents and children

DEVELOPMENTS

Developments requiring attention

NATIONAL: National Human Rights Action Plan

The Australian government introduced a National Human Rights Action Plan on 10 December 2012. [1] Although the plan includes a section on children and young people, the new National Plan falls short of establishing a National Plan of Action for Children and Young People to embed the Convention in Australian policy and legislative frameworks, The plan is a welcome development in putting human rights on the national agenda but a comprehensive strategy is still needed to ensure that all rights under the convention are available to all children in Australia.

Areas lacking progress

NATIONAL: Lack of development of a National Plan of Action for the Convention on the Rights of the Child

Since the Concluding Observations of the CRC were released, the Australian government has not acted upon the recommendation to develop and implement a National Plan of Action in order to fully realise the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Australia.

In 2011, the Child Rights Taskforce report, ‘Listen to Children’ highlighted the need for a National Plan of Action as a key issue in order to, “embed the UN Convention in Australian policy and legislative frameworks, and ensure all federal, state and territory initiatives meet these standards in a coherent manner,” and in order, “to end our inconsistent national approach.” [2]

As found by the Australian Human Rights Law Centre, Australia’s lack of implementation of key general measures of the Convention, including the absence of a National Plan of Action, is “an ongoing failure” and part of a “damning” overall report card. [3] Other advocacy groups such as the Australian Lawyers for Human Rights have also criticised this lack of progress, calling for “increased legal protection of the rights of children by incorporating the Convention into Australian domestic law, developing a National Plan of Action for Children and Young People…” [4]

The Australian government must seek to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy for the realisation of the Convention as soon as possible in order to safeguard children’s rights and meet international obligations. This should be done in consultation with children and civil society, with the view to providing a framework for states and territories to adopt similar plans, and with sufficient provision of resources to achieve such aims.

RECOMMENDATIONS

  • The Australian government develop and implement a comprehensive strategy for the overall realisation of the principles and provisions of the Convention in consultation with children and civil society, providing a framework for states and territories to adopt similar plans.
  • That adequate human, technical and financial resources for the implementation of this comprehensive strategy and plan of action be allocated.

FOOTNOTES

  1. [1] Australian Government, Attorney General’s Department, ‘Consultation, Reform and Reviews, National Human Rights Action Plan,’ http://www.ag.gov.au/consultations/pages/NationalHumanRightsActionPlan.aspx (accessed on 16 January 2014)
  2. Child Rights Taskforce, Listen to Children Report  (2011) p.2
  3. Human Rights Law Centre, ‘UN Committee on the Rights of the Child releases damning report on Australia’ (20 June 2012) (online) at http://www.hrlc.org.au/un-committee-on-the-rights-of-the-child-releases-damning-report-on-australia-19-june-2012 (accessed 9 January 2014)
  4. Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, ‘Child Rights: What Australia can do to be a world leader in better protecting the rights of children’ (Media Release, 19 April 2012) (online) at http://www.alhr.asn.au/activities/2012/04/19/child-rights-what-australia-can-do-to-be-a-world-leader-in-better-protecting-the-rights-of-children.html (accessed 9 January 2014)