2016] The Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness in Australia 465 The duty is not absolute, and certain conditions may be attached (such as age, habitual residence, conduct and so on).46 Another noteworthy feature of the 1961 Convention is its prohibition on states ‘depriv[ing] any person or group of persons of their nationality on racial, ethnic, religious or political grounds.’47 Universal adherence to this provision would drastically reduce the numbers of stateless persons in the world, given the prevalence of discrimination as an underlying cause of statelessness. Indeed, as Batchelor has observed, ‘if all States actively applied the provisions of the 1961 Convention, there would be a decrease in the number of cases arising in relation to the 1954 Convention.’48 In addition to the two specialist statelessness treaties, any assessment of the rights and entitlements of stateless persons must also take into account the widely ratified international human rights treaties that impose obligations relevant to the prevention and reduction of statelessness, and the protection of stateless persons.49 For example, some prohibit discrimination in the enjoyment of rights on the grounds of ‘national or social origin’ or ‘other status’ (which clearly includes stateless persons).50 The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination specifically provides that laws relating to nationality, citizenship or naturalisation must ‘not discriminate against any particular nationality.’51 Some treaties contain particular protections for children in this context. Article 24 of the ICCPR provides that ‘[e]very child shall be registered 46 1961 Convention art 1. 47 Ibid art 9. 48 Batchelor, ‘The 1954 Convention’, above n 24, 35. 49 ICCPR art 24(3); International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, opened for signature 7 March 1966, 660 UNTS 195 (entered into force 4 January 1969) art 5(d)(iii); Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, opened for signature 18 December 1979, 1249 UNTS 13 (entered into force 3 September 1981) art 9 (‘Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women’); Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, opened for signature 30 March 2007, 2515 UNTS 3 (entered into force 3 May 2008) art 18 (‘Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’); Convention on the Rights of the Child art 7; Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN Doc A/810, art 15. See also Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme, Report of the FiftySeventh Session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme, UN GAOR, 57th sess, Agenda Item 14, UN Doc A/AC.96/1035 (10 October 2006) 13--17 [18]. 50 See, eg, ICCPR arts 24(1), 26; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, opened for signature 16 December 1966, 993 UNTS 3 (entered into force 3 January 1976) art 2(2). 51 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, opened for signature 7 March 1966, 660 UNTS 195 (entered into force 4 January 1969) art 1(3).