From 2020 until today, State and Federal Governments as well as many private companies have habitually breached Australia’s international human rights obligations. For example, the right to liberty of movement is enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), as is the right to freely consent to medical and scientific experimentation absent economic or social pressure.
Peter Fam; Human Rights Lawyer (Maat's Method), wrote to the Australian Human Rights Commission in June 2022, outlining the statutory obligations of the commission to ensure that the various human rights covenants and treaties Australia is a signatory to (including the ICCPR), are being complied with.
"This is the closest we come in Australia to enshrining international human rights doctrine into domestic law. And, it’s much closer than most people realise." - Peter Fam.
In the letter to the relatively new Australian Human Rights Commissioner, Ms Lorraine Finlay, it was explained how the Australian Human Rights Commission has failed to perform their statutory function over the last two years. The letter outlined the functions within the Act which have seemingly been ignored by the Commission.
In her response, Ms Finlay agreed that the issues raised in the letter are a priority for her and the Commission.
Peter Fam says "It was encouraging to see the Commissioner’s article in the Australian recently (https://lnkd.in/g6FtQdKz), as well as her submission to the ‘Independent Review of Australia’s Covid Policy Response’(https://lnkd.in/gAfT5wnV), which I noted reflects some of the issues in our letter.".
Full details can be found on Peter's website here. We will provide further updates in due course.