162 According to analysis by NGO Market Forces, national tax-based subsidies that encourage fossil fuel production and
consumption add up to $12 billion every year, see ‘How your tax dollars subsidise fossil fuels’, Market Forces (Web
Page). According to analysis by the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) after the 2019/2020 Federal budget
release, the Australian federal Government spends $4.36 subsidising pollution for every dollar it spends on climate
action, see, ‘Morrison Government's Budget 2019-20: Devaluing Our Environment While Fuelling Global
Warming’, Australian Conservation Foundation (Media Release, 2 April 2019).
163 Transition planning is an opportunity to ensure job creation, social justice, poverty eradication, and grassroots
leadership and empowerment, including for people experience multiple forms of discrimination.
164 A carbon price and ending fossil fuels subsidies are two ways to fund adaptation and just transition measures.
165 Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding observations on the combined fifth and sixth periodic reports of
Australia, UN Doc CRC/C/AUS/CO/5-6 (1 November 2019) [40].
166 Australia has committed $1bn over 5 years 2015-2020 representing 0.3% of global flows. Academics and OFMA have
estimated Australia’s contribution should be 2.4% of global flows which is equivalent to at least $3.2billion. See,
Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), ‘Australian Development Cooperation in a Time of
Contestation: AFCIF Submission to the 2019-20 Federal Budget’ (Report, January 2019), 9. A carbon price and ending
fossil fuels subsidies are two ways to fund adaptation and just transition measures.
167 Australia’s ODA reduced by over 30% between 2013 and 2018. See OECD Development Assistance Committee,
‘Development Co-operation Peer Reviews: Australia 2018’ (Report, 26 March 2018).
168 Performance has fallen year-on-year against the 80% gender target, from a high of 78% in FY 2015-16 down to 75%
in 2017-18. See, Commonwealth of Australia, DFAT, ‘Performance of Australian Aid 2017-18’ (Report, 2 April 2019).
169 International Women’s Development Agency, ‘Making Infrastructure Work for Gender Equality’ (Media release, 30
May 30 2019); see, HELP Resources Inc. et al, Shadow report to the 70th Session of CEDAW: Review of Australia
Extraterritorial Obligations (June 2018).
170 Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission, ‘External Conduct Standard Four: Protection of Vulnerable
Individuals’.
171 See, ACFID Child Rights Community of Practice and ReThink Orphanages Australia, Working with Children in
Residential Care: Implications of the ACNC External Conduct Standards for Australian Charities (Report, 2019).
172 Australian Government Department of Health, Eighth National HIV Strategy 2018-2022 (Report, 2018).
173 In November 2019, the Northern Territory passed a bill to fully decriminalise sex work in the NT, ensuring that sex
workers can access workplace health and safety protections. This places NT as only the third jurisdiction in the world to
decriminalise sex work, alongside NSW which was the first.
174 The first domestic case of COVID-19 in Australia was confirmed on 25 January 2020. See the Hon. Greg Hunt MP,
First Confirmed Case of Novel Coronavirus in Australia (Media Release, Department of Health, 25 January 2020). After
this, cases significantly increased and major lockdown measures occurred in mid-March 2020. See Prime Minister Scott
Morrison, Update on Coronavirus Measures (Media Statement, 18 March 2020).
175 As at 3 July 2020, fewer than 9,000 people have fallen ill from COVID-19 and 104 people have died - far fewer than
projected. See Australian Government, ‘Coronavirus (COVID-19) Current Situation and Case Numbers’ (3 July 2020)
<https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/coronavirus-covid-19-currentsituation-and-case-numbers>.
176 Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, COVID-19 Pandemic - Informal Briefing to the Human
Rights Council (Statement, 9 April 2020).
177 The Australian Medical Association, Submission No 86 to the Select Committee on COVID-19, Inquiry into the
Australian Government’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic (28 May 2020) 9.
178 Ibid. The AMA’s submission specifically notes the need for the Australian Government to renew and expand its focus
on mental health to support the population as it emerges from the health and social effects of the pandemic.
179 This occurred at both a Commonwealth, State and Territory level, making the response complex and varying across
Australia.
180 Human Rights Law Centre, Submission to the Select Committee on COVID-19, Inquiry into the Australian
Government’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic (3 June 2020) 6; Civil Liberties Australia, Submission No 76 to the
Select Committee on COVID-19, Inquiry into the Australian Government’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic (27
May 2020) 2-3.
181 Ibid.
182 Ibid.
183
The Commission was established to lead the “non-health” aspects of Australia’s recovery. See the National COVID19 Coordination Committee, Terms of Reference <https://www.pmc.gov.au/nccc/terms-reference>.
184 Human Rights Law Centre, above n 180, 7.
185 Ibid 14-16.
186 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, NATSILS Supports Black Lives Matter Rallies Across
Australia (Media Release, 5 June 2020).
187 See pages 12-13 of the NGO Report. There have been at least 437 deaths in custody since the 1991 Royal
Commission into Deaths in Custody. See Lorena Allam, Calla Wahlquist and Nick Evershed, “Aboriginal deaths in
custody: Black Lives Matter protests referred to our count of 432 deaths. It’s now 437” The Guardian (online, 9 June
2020) <https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jun/09/black-lives-matter-protesters-referred-to-our-count-of432-aboriginal-deaths-in-custody-its-now-437>.
188 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, Submission No 141 to the Select Committee on
COVID-19, Inquiry into the Australian Government’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic (28 May 2020) 26.
189 Human Rights Law Centre, Joint Submission No 79 to the Select Committee on COVID-19, Inquiry into the Australian
Government’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic (27 May 2020) 6-7.
190 Disability and Aged Care OPCAT Working Group, Submission to the Select Committee on COVID-19, Inquiry into the
Australian Government’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic (June 2020).
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