What is the Committee on the Rights of the Child?

• provide information, including statistics, on the steps taken by a country to give effect to the rights in CROC and the progress made in making sure that children enjoy these rights; and
• point out any difficulties that would affect the country from carrying out their obligations under CROC. indicate any factors or difficulties which affect a country's fulfilment of its obligations.

The Australian government, in its First Report, suggested that it would create a regular meeting for NGOs to discuss human rights issues, including children's issues. At present, a range of NGOs are invited to an annual meeting in Canberra to discuss children's issues. The First Report does not mention any discussion with children and young people.

What issues does the Committee usually bring up in its observations and recommendations?

• asks countries to reconsider any reservations they have entered to CROC;
• seeks an update on what countries have done in response to observations and recommendations made by the Committee in previous reports. This includes asking whether the country has developed a national strategy and plan of action for children within the framework of the Convention. Any plans should specify what actions the country intents to undertake to bring laws and policies in line with CROC, as well as identify specific goals and timelines;
• recommends that countries gather and record information in a way that will allow a proper assessment of whether laws and policies are effectively upholding the Convention. The Committee often asks countries to record information about the number and the type of complaints received from, or on behalf of, children;
• asks for information on the steps the country has taken to bring about full compliance to the Convention, as well as an update on how the country’s compliance is being evaluated at all levels of government. The Committee may ask which body is responsible for checking this progress;
• asks whether the principles of CROC have been incorporated into the country’s laws.

The principles of CROC must be followed by Australia as part of international law but they are not enforced on the Courts as part of domestic law. This creates a curious situation between Australia’s international and domestic laws. However, for the most part, Australia’s domestic laws do incorporate relevant CROC obligations. So, even though CROC has not been officially incorporated into Australia’s national laws, it does have some influence on Australia’s policies.

Has Australia made a national strategy and plan of action for children as required by CROC?

Apart from the National Agenda for Early Childhood and the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009-2010, no overall policy or plan of action has been made by the Australian government in relation to children and the enforcement of the rights in CROC. However, the Australian government has made strategies and plans of action on some specific issues covered by CROC.

Steps taken by the Australian Government over the last 10 years include:

• the National Plan of Action against the sexual exploitation of Children, “Tomorrow’s Children” in 2000;
• the National Plan of Action to Eradicate Trafficking in Persons in October 2003;
• the establishment of “Families Australia”;
• the National HIV/AIDS Strategy 2005-2008
• the National Agenda for Early Childhood;
• the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009-2020; and
• launching Australia’s Human Rights Framework in April 2010.

• while CROC may be taken into account to help courts resolve uncertainties in the law, it cannot be used by the courts to override inconsistent provisions of Australia’s law;
• there is no complete policy at the national level that addresses human rights issues for children;
• there is no commissioner within the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) devoted specifically to child rights and cuts to HREOC’s funding have severely affected HREOC’s ability to effectively handle complaints, public inquiries and policy work;
• that the general principles of the Convention, in particular those related to non-discrimination (Article 2) and the respect for the views of the child (Article 12) are not being fully applied;
• the special problems still faced by Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders, as well as by children of non-English-speaking backgrounds, about their enjoyment of the same standards of living and levels of services, particularly in education and health;
• corporal punishment (punishment by physical means such as the cane) is lawful throughout Australia in local laws;
• Indigenous children are over-represented in out-of-home care;
• a considerate number of children have one parent in prison, and Indigenous children are over-represented in this group;
• some children are exposed to a high level of domestic violence;
• there is a big difference in the health status of indigenous and non-indigenous children and there is unequal access to health care for children living in rural and remote areas; and
• youth suicide is still high, especially among indigenous children and homeless teenages.

The website of the NSW Commission for Children and Young People provides a summary of the Articles of CROC - www.kids.nsw.gov.au.

Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, 'Australia's Report under the Convention on the Rights of Child' The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, December 1995.

Direction [no.41] - Visa refusal and cancellation under s501 2009 (Cth)

Justice Wood, 'Overview of Australian Justice and Prison Systems' (Speech delivered at the China-Australia Human Rights Technical Cooperation Programme: Workshop on Prisoners and Detainees: Xian China, May 2004)

Commonwealth Commissioner for Children and Young People Bill 2010 (Cth)

Implementation Handbook for CROC, R Hodgkin, P Newell, UNICEF, 1998