Australia must develop a National Plan for Children which comprehensively protects children’s
rights, and which is at least consistent with the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women
and Their Children, within 18 months.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are over 10 times more likely to be removed from their families
than other children and 23 times as likely to be in detention. 73
Australia must establish a national prevention, early intervention and reunification program to
prevent child protection involvement, with significant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
community-controlled service provision, within two years. Australia must establish a national
commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people within one year.74
To comply with international legal obligations, 75 Australia must immediately legislate to prohibit
detention of asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children.
Australia fails to adequately protect children’s right to be heard about matters affecting them.76
Australia must undertake legal reform to provide mechanisms for children to participate and be
heard, and to provide all necessary funding to services that support direct advocacy for children
within two years.
Children with disability experience segregation and human rights violations in educational settings.
Australia must develop a national Action Plan for Inclusive Education and urgently end restraint and
seclusion of children with disability.77
Australia must legislate to mandate consultation between the National Children’s Commissioner and
children on matters affecting them, while ensuring the Commissioner has adequate resources, within
one year.
WOMEN
Many women in Australia experience human rights violations due to an intersection of gender and other
aspects of their lived experience.
Discrimination against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women is structurally and institutionally
entrenched. Colonisation, intergenerational trauma and a lack of culturally appropriate services fosters a
disturbing pattern of violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, who are significantly
more likely to die or be hospitalized due to violence than other women 78 and are imprisoned at 21 times the
rate of other women.79
Funding for women’s specialist services is declining and community self-determination is not valued by
funders.80
Australia must implement gender responsive budgeting which considers the needs and impacts of
expenditure on a diverse range of women, underpinned by intersectional data and research.
The family law system does not prioritise safety and risk in its practice and decision-making.81
Australia must implement the Safety First in Family Law Plan.82
The National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and Their Children is inadequately resourced to meet
demand,83 and is not inclusive of all forms of gender-based violence.84 UN experts have recommended a
National Action Plan for Indigenous Women, but Australia has not implemented this. 85
Women on temporary visas experiencing violence face barriers to accessing protections, services and
justice.86
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