Learn about how every five years, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) considers the progress of every country in the realisation of all human rights.
Submission by the Australian Human Rights Commission under the Universal Periodic Review
This 2014 UPR Progress Report is the fourth in a series of annual reports developed in the lead up to Australia’s Second Cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council.
In 1993 the World Conference on Human Rights recommended that
each State consider the desirability of drawing up a national action plan identifying steps whereby that State would improve the promotion and protection of human rights.
This was a result of an initiative by Australia, and was a concept principally developed by Mr Bill Barker of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Australia was the first nation to develop a Human Rights Action Plan.
In 1994 Australia was the first nation in the world to provide a National Action Plan on Human Rights. This Plan is now difficult to find on Australian Government or United Nations sites and so it is attached here in MS Word and PDF formats for convenient access together with a 1995 update.
A second National Action Plan for Australia was released in 2004 by Prime Minister John Howard and provided to the United Nations.
This Plan is dificult to find on Australian Government or United Nations sites. It is linked from this page in PDF and MS Word formats for ease of access.
Following Australia's appearance in the UPR process, the Australian Human Rights Commission committed to publishing an annual report on the status of implementation of the UPR recommendations. The series of annual reports will track Australia's performance in the lead up to its next review in 2015.
Learn about the Universal Periodic Review, which is undertaken by the UN every four years to examine the human rights records of all 192 UN Member States.
