Page 69 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 9 February 2016
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Existing projects conducted by the Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs are contributing to a better understanding of the relationships of different Aboriginal peoples to our region. This work will form a solid basis for future consideration of ways to improve the accessibility of fora for hearing and resolving land use and native title claims.
The government notes recommendation 5, that the Assembly vote in support of clause 8 of the bill that omits the definition of “human rights” from section 40B(3), thereby extending the part 5A obligations on public authorities to the right to education. The government thanks the committee for its support of the proposal to make the right of education binding and enforceable. The government has also noted recommendation 6 in relation a note in section 11 of the act to indicate that a child has the other human rights set out in the act, not just the right to protection of families and children. The government thanks the committee for its support of the proposal to make the rights of children clearer.
The government has also noted recommendation 7, that the government introduce the amendments to the Human Rights Act to change references to children and child to include also young people.
The review of the act in 2014 noted:
…as the Human Rights Act and the relevant international instruments do not differentiate between the rights of children by reference to their age, adding “young people” into the formulation of the right in section 11 is likely to lead to confusion and diminish the ease with which international instruments and materials relating to the rights of the child, can be applied in the ACT.
The Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2010 does not distinguish between a child and young person. The government’s policy position is that references to child in the Human Rights Act remain inclusive of all individuals under the age of 18 consistent with international law.
The government notes the committee’s recommendation that the government investigate and consider separating the right to protection of families and children in section 11. The government examined the case for and against separating the rights of children from family in the 2014 review. It noted arguments for and against separating the rights into two sections, but did not propose that the rights in section 11 be separated on the basis that the rights of children and the rights of families are separate and distinct rights, but also closely linked. Appropriate consideration of the best interests of the child must necessarily take into account the child’s family context and the importance of maintaining linkages and relations between the child and family. The government does not consider it necessary to split the rights to protection of family and children.
The committee’s report notes the “orderly development of the Human Rights Act 2004, in which the initial Human Rights Act has been incrementally extended over time, thus maintaining an appropriate relationship between the Human Rights Act and broader societal expectations in the ACT”.
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