Amnesty International (Autor): „The State of the World's Human Rights; Australia 2024“, Dokument #2124597

Indigenous Peoples’ rights

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples continued to face inequality. Only five of the 19 targets set in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap were on track. Progress on four targets worsened, including Indigenous incarceration rates, children in out-of-home care, and suicide rates among First Nations Peoples.

Eighteen Indigenous People died in custody during the year.

Indigenous women experienced disproportionate levels of domestic violence. Perpetrators of crimes against missing and murdered Indigenous women and children were often not held accountable.

Children’s rights

The Northern Territory lowered the age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 10 and reintroduced physical restraint devices such as spit-hoods. Queensland introduced tougher sentences for children under “adult crime, adult time” policies. In June, Victoria raised the age of criminal responsibility to 12, but rescinded plans to raise this to 14.

In Western Australia, three Aboriginal boys died in the youth detention system.¹ Indigenous children were 23 times more likely to be under youth justice supervision and 28 times more likely to be in detention, despite making up only 5.7% of the population aged 10 to 17.

Refugees’ and migrants’ rights

Unlawful refugee policies continued, including indefinite detention in Australia and sending asylum seekers “offshore” to Nauru. By the end of the year, there were over 100 refugees and asylum seekers in Nauru.

In May, the High Court dismissed a challenge brought by an Iranian asylum seeker, known as ASF17, who had been detained since 2013. ASF17 was unsuccessful in his claim of persecution based on his sexuality under a flawed “fast track” assessment process. He faced indefinite detention in Australia since he was unable to be removed to Iran. The ruling impacted up to 200 people held in immigration detention in similar circumstances.

In late November, three new migration laws were passed that included increased powers to remove and detain refugees and migrants, including to third countries, and new powers to confiscate phones in detention.²

Rights of people with disabilities

In July, the Disability Royal Commission published a report which made over 200 recommendations. Only 13 of these were fully accepted, with agreement “in principle” on 117 others. The government did not agree to phase out special schools, group homes or segregated employment settings, nor to pass new laws for greater protections for people with disabilities, as recommended. There were fears that this would negatively impact the rights to housing, education and work for people with disabilities.

Right to a healthy environment

The government continued to expand fossil fuel projects, ranking among the top 20 countries in developed gas reserves. Australia was also one of nine nations responsible for 90% of global coal production. It planned to increase coal and gas output by more than 5% by 2030: an increase incompatible with global climate commitments. There was no clear plan to phase out fossil fuels or curb extraction. Climate finance contributions were rated as critically insufficient.

Freedom of assembly

Anti-protest laws were used against climate activists and those protesting against the war in Gaza.³ On 25 June, in Newcastle, New South Wales, police stopped a climate protester attempting to disrupt trains and arrested at least 26 people. In November, over 170 people were arrested for temporarily blocking coal ships. Students and activists advocating for Palestinian human rights faced arrests, police violence and harassment. The University of Sydney introduced a policy requiring students to apply for permits to protest. At the University of Melbourne, CCTV footage and Wi-Fi location data were used as evidence in misconduct hearings against protesters.

In September, anti-war protesters were arrested after clashes with police outside a major defence weapons exposition in Melbourne. Police fired rubber bullets at demonstrators.