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Audio Australia yet to sign up to child rights protocol

Simon Lauder

Australia is yet to sign up to a UN protocol which would allow children to take human rights complaints to the United Nations. The protocol is due to come into force next week and Australia's Children's Commissioner Megan Mitchell says it's important that Australia sign up.


CHRIS UHLMANN: From next week, children from all over the world will be able to take complaints about human rights violations to the United Nations for investigation.

The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child comes into effect on Monday, but it won't apply to children whose rights have been violated by Australian authorities because this country is not a signatory.

The national children's commissioner Megan Mitchell says if Australia signed up the protocol, it would apply to children in immigration detention centres.

She told Simon Lauder the Government should sign up soon.

MEGAN MITCHELL: I'm very keen for Australia to show leadership in this area and ratify the protocol. Really we are signing up to ensure that all government in our region and around the world do the right thing by children. And by silencing their voice, that's not the answer. It's actually about allowing children to speak up.

SIMON LAUDER: So basically if the convention has been flouted, it allows a child or someone acting on a child's behalf to make a complaint and trigger a formal investigation by the UN?

MEGAN MITCHELL: That's right. The matters brought through this mechanism though need to be systematic and grave violations of rights under the Convention of the Rights of the Child. And they also need to have exhausted all domestic remedies before they take that pathway.

SIMON LAUDER: Why do you think Australia hasn't signed up yet?

MEGAN MITCHELL: I'm not clear, actually, why they haven't signed up and I'm really hoping that they'll sign up soon. I mean a number of countries have already signed up to it, like Albania and Portugal and Germany, Thailand. And these countries obviously feel that children need to be afforded their rights - all across the world - and are willing to be transparent about any breaches of their own.

SIMON LAUDER: So it would, you believe, have a real effect on the implementation of children's rights in Australia?

MEGAN MITCHELL: Absolutely. It would drive the focus on children's rights and what we need to do to make that a reality - in particular through complaints systems, in legal processes and in administrative systems.

And look, some of the examples of areas where it could escalate to that level are children being denied access to an education because of their disability, children being detained or constrained without charge or sentence.

SIMON LAUDER: The Human Rights Commission has recently raised concerns about the treatment of children in Australia's immigration detention centres offshore. Would those children be able to access the protocol if Australia signed up?

MEGAN MITCHELL: I don't see any reason why they wouldn't be able to access the protocol if they've gone through local and domestic complaints processes and I think that may be one of the reasons Australia is somewhat reticent.

However if we have nothing to hide and we believe we're treating children well, this shouldn't be an issue for Australia.

I have no evidence to suggest that that is behind their reticence to date, but I'll be seeking to talk to the Attorney-General about this issue and encouraging them to sign up to this protocol.

CHRIS UHLMANN: Australia's children's commissioner Megan Mitchell speaking to Simon Lauder.