PRIME MINISTER
FOR MEDIA THURSDAY, 10 DECEMBER 1981
INAUGURATION OF THE HUMANRIGHTS COMMISSION
It is fitting that the Human Rights Commission should be
-launched on Human Rights Day, because this day symbolises the
commitment of Australia and many other nations to giving greater
reality to human rights, and it also commemorates the struggles
and the evolution through which the rights and privileges
which we now enjoy have been achieved.
It is 33 years since the United Nations Declaration of Human
Rights was proclaimed as " a common standard of achievement
for all peoples and all nations". That declaration has had
a major impact on attitudes to rights, and it has been the
focus for a great deal of thinking about rights, although
the traditions of rights from which it was distilled are
obviously centuries old.
In Australia, many of our rights are established and protected
by law, both common law and statute law. -In our courts, and
through our system of responsible government we have strong, vital
and practical mechanisms for securing our rights,.* and quite
obviously, nobody should imagine that the Human Rights Commission
would be any substitute for them. Those who criticise these
mechanisms as inadequate guarantors of rights underestimate
their strength and effectiveness, as well as their adaptabilit ' y
and their capacity to take account of particular circumstances,
because where questions of rights are concerned, the proof of
the pudding is very decidedly in the eating, and in the
overall sense human rights command great respect and protection
in Australia. Any consideration of rights in Australia, or of
problems which still need to be overcome, really does need to
proceed against the background of this overall perspective.
There is a further dimension to this, because while the law
has a vital role to play in the protection of rights, human
rights, in the end, are a matter of attitudes and relationships
between people. In the absence of respect for people, or a
recognition of human dignity, in the absence of the attitude
which believes in the ! opportunities for all and encourages the
fullest use of human potential, in the absence of an understanding
of the social factors, both existent and emerging, which impinge
upon the enjoyment of rights, there is little. which the law
or any other mechanism can do. .12
7, -2-
Indieed, when people resort to the law to protect their rights,
they typically do so only because their rights have already
been infringed. It is a trap to depend too much upon law for
the enjoyment of rights, or to imagine that more laws, different.
kinds of laws, or a greater resort to law, can be a substitute
for attitudes and relationships between people, and it is
worth remembering Cicero's words, " the more law, the less
justice". The Human Rights Commiission forms part of a
network of human rights initiatives which the Government has
been taking.
Our concern for people's rights at the international level is
obviously not new, and the record of the willingness of Australians
to help other peoples to maintain their rights and freedom is
carved in the honour. rolls of every city and country town.
This same essential concern about violations-of human rights,
wherever they occur, has been at work in the Government's recent
activities in international forums.
Australia has been a member of the United Nations Commission on
Human Rights for two successive terms, and I believe it is
worth referring here to the,. section on human rights in the fina.
communique of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in
Melbourne, in which Australia, together with other Commonwealth
countries, urged governments to accede to relevant global and
regional instruments on human rights, endorsed the principle
of a special unit in the Commonwealth Secretairiat-for the
promotion of human rights within the Commonwealth, and took
steps towards obt aining an agreed definition of human rights
within the Commonwealth.
The Government's human rights initiatives within Au stralia since
1975 include the establishment of the Administrative Appeals
Tribunal, the Administrative Decisions ( Judicial Review) Act,
the Administrative Review Council, and the Commonwealth
Ombudsman, together with the Freedom of Information Legislation.
These initiatives amount to an impressive package of administrat~ ive
reform, which protects the rights of individuals against
bureaucracy, and the Government has recently proposed a number of
reforms in the area of criminal law.
The Human Rights Commission has been established in '. fulfilment
of an election commitment. It represents a unique approach
to issues of human rights, ainu it has the capacity to make an
innovative contribution to the advancement of rights in
Australia. In considering questions of rights, the Commission
has for its points of reference a number of international
statements of rights, including the International Convenant of
Civil and Political Rights, the Declaration of the Rights of
the Child, the Declaration of the Rights of Mentally Retarded
Persons, and the Declaration of the Rights of Disabled Persons.
And let me add that ratification by Australia of a future
United Natliohs, Convention of the Rights of the Child would
not detract from the Commission's obligations. under the 1959
Declaration of the Rights of the Child. / 3
43
This adds up t o an imaginative and broad-ranging charter, and
it is plain that the framework within which the Commission's
deliberations may take place is indeed relatively unconfined.
I have no doubt that for Australia, the Human Rights Commission
represents a commitment to human rights which is far more profound,
relevant and effective thanm any alternative measure. For the
functions and powers of the Commission are based four square
upon the fundamental realities of the acceptance and
development of human rights in civilised communities.
I would like to refer specifically to one particular function
which the Commission will perform within its charter, namely
" to inquire into any act or practice that may be inconsistent
with or contrary to any human right", and then to endeavour
to effect a settlement, or else report on the results of its
inquiry. This represents a constructive and realistic
approach to the promotion of human rights, especially in a
society or with a Government which has a genuine concern for people's
rights. And it is an approach which will surely be even more
positive and constructive in conjunction with other functions of
the Commission, especially those of promoting understanding
and acceptance of human rights, and of undertaking research and
educational progress.
It will obviously be a task for the Commission, not only to come
to grips with exisrting problems, but also to identify issues 6f
concern as they appear on the horizon, because it is important that
our thinking and practice of rights be kept up to date in a
changing world. The Commission is a unique blend of conciliatory
machinery of research, educational and promotional capacity, and
of advisory functions. Its essential powers are to inform, to
recommend, and to persuade, and granted that human rights are
ultimately a matter of attitudes and relationships between
people, these powers of influence and persuasion are the decisive
ones. They are also powers which present the Commission with a
challenge and I am confident that the Commissioners will
approach their task with a C: mbination of dedication -and
ability which will enable the challenge to be met.
I would like to congratulate the Commissioners on their
appointment. They are eight people, four men and four women,
drawn widely from around Australia, representing a cross section
of society which includes Aboriginal and ethnic communities.
I am sure that we are all delighted that Justice Roma Mitchell
of the Supreme Court of South Australia is heading this
Commission, and I have great pleasure in wishing the CommissionErs
every success, on behalf of all Australians, in discharging
your responsibilities as Commissioners.