Australia’s leading human rights organisation has pushed for same-sex marriage and federal LGBTI anti-discrimination laws in a comprehensive review compiled for the United Nations.
The Australian Human Rights Commission released the report last month and has lodged it with the UN Human Rights Council for review in January 2011.
This will be Australia’s first Universal Periodical Review; a process the UN began in 2006 to examine the conditions of equality in all 192 member states across the globe.
The report stated that sexually diverse Australians experienced significant levels of violence, harassment and bullying in the workplace and community.
It went on to detail the issues faced by the gender diverse community such as gaining accurate gender status on official documents.
The review has recommended sexuality be included as grounds for discrimination federally and that the government ‘take all possible steps to enable equal recognition of same-sex marriage’.
The Commission suggested gender diversity should be included as grounds for discrimination on a federal level and that the government implement the recommendations from the Human Rights Commission’s Sex Files report.
President of the AHRC and Human Rights Commissioner Catherine Branson QC said this inequality needed to be addressed.
‘Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation (and gender diversity) is a significant human rights issue that needs to be addressed in this country,’ Branson said.
‘We can’t know yet what impact our recommendations will have but it’s a case of the Australian Government has the opportunity to make voluntary commitments ahead of its appearance before the United Nations.
‘We would welcome any commitments from the government in this area.
‘It’s too early yet to know what the response will be but we certainly think it doesn’t reflect well on us, as members of the global community to have a percentage of our population that is not treated as well as other citizens under the law.’
The review will investigate human rights domestically for groups such as indigenous people; people living with disabilities; older Australians and women.
Benn Dorrington
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