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Australia's reporting under ICESCR and ICCPR
Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade
webpage for access to Australia's Common Core Document incorporating
Australia’s Fifth Report under the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR) and Fourth Report under the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) as submitted
to the United Nations on 25 July 2007.
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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.
Some documents require
the Adobe Acrobat Reader software for you to be able to
read them. These are indicated by the Acrobat Reader icon
shown at right. To download a document to your local/hard
drive, right-click on the icon and choose "Save
Target As" (Internet Explorer) or "Save Link As"
(Netscape Navigator). Where possible, documents are also
provided as Rich Text Format (RTF) files, which can be
read by most word processing applications.
The Acobat Reader
software is available online for free download where you see the
picture at right.
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.
![Get Acrobat Reader](getacro.gif) 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.
Australias 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]
Please
note that the documents do not contain the
Appendices to the Report, which underpin
the various claims made in the Report. For
information on the availability of the Appendices
please refer:
Treaties Secretariat
Legal Branch
International Organisations and Legal
Division
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Phone +61.02.62613521
Email ruth.blunden@dfat.gov.au
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Note
also that pagination may differ from
that in the document actually submitted by the
Government to the Committee on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights. This should be borne in mind
when citing passages from the Government's
submission. |
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.
![Get Acrobat Reader](getacro.gif) 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.
![Get Acrobat Reader](getacro.gif) 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]
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.
![Get Acrobat Reader](getacro.gif) 15KB] - [RTF 20KB / ZIPped 6KB] - [Online]
Other Resources
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.
![Get Acrobat Reader](getacro.gif) 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 Australias 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.
![Get Acrobat Reader](getacro.gif) 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.
![Get Acrobat Reader](getacro.gif) 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.
![Get Acrobat Reader](getacro.gif) 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.
![Get Acrobat Reader](getacro.gif) 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.
![Get Acrobat Reader](getacro.gif) 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.
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