8 February 2017
Australia is a candidate for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council for the term 2018-20. In connection with that candidacy Australia has lodged voluntary pledges in relation to each of the five campaign pillars-see the attachment.
The ACHRE has joined a number of civil society organisations including the Human Rights Law Centre, Amnesty, The Australia Institute, The Australian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, National Association of Community Legal Centres and Castan Centre for Human Rights to call on the government to improve the quality of the voluntary pledges.
In particular, ACHRE believes that the pledges should include measurable and verifiable commitments to human rights education bot in Australia and internationally and a commitment of Australia to uphold the highest standards in protection and promotion of human rights.