Reporting to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child?

1 What is the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child?

The Committee on the Rights of the Child is a United Nations (UN) body which monitors the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its Optional Protocols by States Parties to the Convention. The UN Committee is made up of 18 independent ‘experts’ from a range of countries. The UN Committee holds regular sessions every year to review reports by the States Parties on their progress in fulfilling their obligations under the CRC.

The UN Committee can make suggestions and issue recommendations to governments, called Concluding Observations.

As a State Party to the CRC, Australia must submit regular reports to the UN Committee on how the rights are being implemented. It must submit an initial report two years after acceding to the CRC, then every five years.

In 2008 the Australian Government submitted to the UN Committee its fourth report under the CRC. The Australian Government’s reports to the UN Committee are published on the Attorney-General’s website here.

In 2011-12, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child considered Australia’s progress in implementing the CRC and its Optional Protocols. It issued its Concluding Observations on Australia’s fourth report on 15 June 2013.

Australia is due to submit its combined fifth and sixth periodic reports on progress under the CRC and its Optional Protocols by 15 January 2018.

2 What is the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its Optional Protocols?

The CRC is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in the world. It contains a full range of human rights – civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. Australia ratified the CRC in December 1990. This means that Australia has a duty to ensure that all children in Australia enjoy the rights set out in the treaty.

Australia has also ratified two Optional Protocols under the CRC for the protection of particularly vulnerable children:

• Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography
• Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.

On 28 February 2012, a third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child was opened for signature The Optional Protocol sets up an individual complaints mechanism for children. Australia has not yet agreed to this Optional Protocol.

3 What is the role of the Australian Human Rights Commission?

As the country's national human rights institution, the Commission has an independent role in international treaty reporting.

In 2011, the Commission made a submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, providing it with information on child rights in Australia, including recommendations for Australian Government action on child rights. This information assisted the UN Committee to monitor Australia’s progress.

In May 2012, the Commission also provided the UN Committee with additional information on the issues raised in its submission.

The National Children’s Commissioner will play a role in independently monitoring Australia’s implementation of the CRC leading up to the next reporting date. The Commissioner can also play a key role in educating children and adults about the UN Committee process and the Concluding Observations.

4 How do NGOs engage with the UN Committee?

The UN Committee can look at any information it considers important when reviewing Australia’s record on children’s rights. This may include information from non-government organisations (NGOs) and community groups in the form of a ‘shadow’ report. Shadow reports generally provide an alternative view about the government’s performance on children’s rights. In 2011, the Child Rights Taskforce prepared a shadow report, Listen to Children: Child Rights NGO Report Australia. For more information about Australian NGO engagement with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, see the UNICEF website on the Child Rights Taskforce.