This page gives details of, and access to various resources available for ASERP Working Group members. Also included on this page are public documents produced by ASERP - see the ASERP Outcomes section.

Some of the resource documents can be downloaded from this page, or can be accessed on the worldwide web via the links indicated. Other resources are, to our knowledge, only available as hardcopy. If you require any document in a format other than that provided here, or for any other enquiries or comments, please email the webmaster.

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ASERP Outcomes

This section contains public documents produced by ASERP, including those produced for submission to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

• Australia's Compliance with the UN Covenant on Economic, Social And Cultural Rights
  ("The ASERP Report")

  Submitted to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in April 2000, for consideration by the Committee at its 23rd extraodinary session for which the Australian Government's Report is scheduled for consideration.

  213KB] - [RTF coming? / ZIPped coming?]

CESCR Concluding Observations, September 2000

The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted its Concluding Observations on its review of Australia on 1 September 2000, following hearings in late August.

• 16KB] - [RTF 40KB / ZIPped 7KB] - [Online]

Australia’s Report Under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was signed by Australia on 18 December 1972 and ratified on 10 December 1975. It entered into force for Australia on 10 March 1976. In accordance with Articles 16 and 17, States Parties to the Covenant are required to submit reports on the measures they have adopted and progress made in achieving observance of the rights recognised in the Covenant. This document constitutes Australia's first comprehensive report to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and covers the period from 1990 to 1997. The document is available from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in a number of formats. Please follow the link below to access the document you require.

[Online via DFAT]

Core Document

The Australian Government's Report makes frequent reference to the Core Document, which forms part of Australia's reports under a number of international instruments and treaties.

[Online]

ASERP Information Kit

A compendium of key documents pertaining to international social and economic rights. Some of these may in some form be available separately (see below).

Note: As at 13/12/1999 this document includes General Comment No 13 (Right to Education), for which there is also a link below for an online version of the document.

270KB] - [RTF 585KB / ZIPped 121KB]

The above document contains the following documents:

• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

  This document was signed and ratified by the Australian Government. In turn, the Government is legally obligated to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the human rights contained in this Covenant.

  26KB - [RTF 59KB / ZIPped 11KB] - [Online]

  ---

• Background Note and General Comments No. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 13

  The Committee adopts General Comments to assist States in fulfilling their reporting obligations and to provide greater interpretative clarity as to the intent, meaning and content of the Covenant. These General Comments can be used to assist NGOs in framing their issues of concern for the Committee and developing legal arguments at both the international and domestic levels. General Comments will also assist NGOs in understanding the meaning of various rights contained in the Covenant.

  • The Purpose of General Comments [Online]
  • General Comment No. 3 (Nature of States parties obligations) [Online]
  • General Comment No. 4 (Right to adequate housing) [Online]
  • General Comment No. 5 (Persons with disabilities) [Online]
  • General Comment No. 6 (Economic, social and cultural rights of older persons) [Online]
  • General Comment No. 7 (Right to adequate housing: forced evictions) [Online]
  • General Comment No. 9 (Domestic application of the Covenant) [Online]
  • General Comment No. 13 (Right to Education) [Online]

  ---

• The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Fact Sheet No.16 Rev. 1)

  This provides a brief overview of the Committee and its procedures.

  [Online]

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• Revised General Guidelines Regarding Form and Contents of Reports

  The Committee issues these guidelines to assist States in preparing their reports for the Committee. These guidelines will also be of use to NGOs in preparing Parallel Reports for the Committee. A more user-friendly, less technical guidelines document is described below.

  [Online]

  ---

• NGOs and the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

  This document provides an overview of some of the ways NGOs can use the UN system, and provides seven good reasons for NGOs to use the UN system and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

  15KB] - [RTF 20KB / ZIPped 6KB] - [Online]

Other Resources

• Promoting and Defending Economic, Social & Cultural Rights - Handbook

  Handbook produced by the American Association for the Advancement of Science HURIDOCS Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Violations Project. The url below gives access to the online edition of the Handbook (also gives directions for purchasing hardcopy).

  [Online]

• Australia - List of Issues
  Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

List of issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration of the third periodic report of Australia concerning the rights covered by articles 1-15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. (UNHCHR Document E/C.12/Q/AUSTRAL/1)

[Online]

• In Search of 'Effective Remedies' -
  A framework for assessing Australia's progress towards the implementation of its obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

  This paper describes and explains the overarching implementation obligations imposed upon Australia by Article 2 of the Covenant, including an identification of circumstances that might give rise to prima facie violations of these obligations; and outlines a range of legislative implementation options, and their associated remedies, available to Australia, and identifies factors to consider in assessing the extent to which the use of those options and remedies in Australia has complied with the implementing obligations.

  62KB] - [RTF 108KB / ZIPped 27KB]

• Women's Rights Action Network Australia (WRANA) report to the UN Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights

  The WRANA Shadow Report aims to provide a gender analysis of Australia’s Report to the Committee, as well as raising issues of general concern. This report will be submitted to the Committee, and stands as an excellent model for NGO parallel reports to the Committee and is an important contribution to the work on economic, social and cultural rights in Australia and internationally.

  142KB] - [RTF 275KB / ZIPped 67KB]

• ATSIC Submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

  ATSIC's submission to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in 1999, reviewing Australia's compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

  336KB] - [RTF 660KB / ZIPped 141KB]

• Documents from the Canadian Experience at the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

  Homepage from the website for the Canadian NGOs that participated in the review of Canada by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This website (http://www.web.net/~povnet/geneva.html) provides examples of parallel reports submitted by Canadian NGOs to the Committee. It is recommended that NGOs look at the parallel report submitted by the National Anti-Poverty Organization.

  [Online]

• The Purpose of Reporting

  Background document by Philip Alston, former Chair of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

• User Friendly Reporting Guidelines

  Published by the UN, these are less technical than the Guidelines provided by the Committee and offer a good overview of what should be covered in the State report to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This document could also be of assistance to NGOs preparing Parallel Reports.

• UK NGO Report to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

  UK national NGO report that was submitted to the CESCR in 1997, considered to be a good example of parallel reporting.

  75KB] - [Online]

• UN Organizational Structure

  This provides an overview of where the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights fits in with the rest of the UN System.

  [Online]

• The UN Human Rights Treaty System: Universality at the Crossroads

  April 2001. Report by Professor Anne F. Bayefsky of York University (Canada), the product of a study of the United Nations human rights treaty system commenced in 1999 and conducted in collaboration with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The purpose of the Report is to present recommendations for the enhancement of the operations of the human rights treaty system. Printable documents in Acrobat/PDF and Wordperfect formats are available from the webpage at http://www.yorku.ca/hrights/Report/report.htm.

  719KB] - [Wordperfect 1.24MB] - [Online]

• A Human Rights Framework for Trade in the Americas

  March 2001. Paper by Diana Bronson and Lucie Lamarche for the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development (Canada), proposes a human rights framework for international trade liberalisation agreements. See the press release for more information.

  278KB] - [Online]

• Article by Australian Human Rights Council Regarding the Australian Government Report to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

  Provides a good overview of some of the deficiencies in the government report. See Human Rights Defender, March 1998, pp. 9 - 11.