2016] The Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness in Australia 467 grant women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality of their children.’60 The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities similarly provides that states shall ensure that persons with disabilities ‘[h]ave the right to acquire and change a nationality and are not deprived of their nationality arbitrarily or on the basis of disability’.61 In 2011, the UNHCR convened a Ministerial Intergovernmental Event to mark the 60th anniversary of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (‘Refugee Convention’)62 and the 50th anniversary of the 1961 Convention respectively, and to invite states to make concrete commitments to improve protection and assistance for refugees and stateless persons. At that meeting, 33 states pledged to accede to one or both of the statelessness treaties, and over 40 states committed to implementing other measures to reduce statelessness, such as through the reform of domestic nationality laws.63 It was in this context that Australia pledged: to better identify stateless persons and assess their claims. Australia is committed to minimising the incidence of statelessness and to ensuring that stateless persons are treated no less favourably than people with an identified nationality. Australia will continue to work with UNHCR, civil society and interested parties to progress this pledge.64 While not legally binding, this pledge signalled a high-level commitment to improving the lives of stateless persons in Australia. It provides the background against which we analyse current Australian law to determine how fully it reflects Australia’s obligations to protect stateless persons and to reduce statelessness through its citizenship laws. 60 Ibid art 9(2). Australia ratified the Convention on 28 July 1983 with no relevant reservations: Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Declarations, Reservations, Objections and Notifications of Withdrawal of Reservations Relating to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 16th mtg, Provisional Agenda Item 6, UN Doc CEDAW/SP/2010/2 (1 March 2010) 6. 61 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities art 18(1)(a). 62 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, opened for signature 28 July 1951, 189 UNTS 137 (entered into force 22 April 1954). 63 UNHCR, Pledges 2011: Ministerial Intergovernmental Event on Refugees and Stateless Persons (Geneva, Palais des Nations, 7--8 December 2011) (2012) 12, 32--3. Notwithstanding this, at the time of writing, there were still only 68 states parties to the 1961 Convention. 64 UNHCR, Pledges 2011, above n 63, 49.