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Human rights - time for Australia to go beyond its borders
ACFID Media Release
10 December 2008
Release 19/08
Human rights - time for Australia to go beyond its borders
ACFID welcomes the government’s announcement of a national consultation into human rights protection.
“As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, political leaders need to focus on how we can improve Australia’s global contribution on human rights, including through improved implementation of Australia’s own human rights protection measures,” said Paul O’Callaghan, ACFID Executive Director.
“The national consultation will promote an overdue debate on legislative protections for human rights. A key element of this should be the protection of human rights by Australia overseas,” he said.
“A simple step would be to require Australian government agencies operating overseas to comply with our domestic human rights standards. This would be consistent with a number of cases where Australian law applies beyond its borders,” said Mr O’Callaghan.
Mr O’Callaghan also said that the consultation provided an opportunity for government agencies to be adequately trained in considering human rights in their day-to-day work. In this way, Australia can move to becoming a leader in human rights at home and abroad.
For further information, contact:
Paul O’Callaghan
Executive Director
0434 142 069
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