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The United Nations (UN) deals with many aspects of human rights and other international issues. Several specialised departments and agencies have been established within the UN to deal specifically with concerns relating to women.

;Ultimately we have to be judged not by our highest ambitions and achievements, but by our ability to raise from the lowest level those whose needs that are greatest. That is the way I would like Australia, and every other country, to be judged in the United Nations."

'The convention [CEDAW]... seeks to assert that many women who consider themselves to be both happy and equal in their roles as mothers and wives are not happy... the convention in effect belittles the vital role of these women and consequently the role of their husbands'.

In signing CEDAW, Australia committed itself to being a society that promotes policies, laws, organisations, structures and attitudes that ensure that women are given the same rights as men. CEDAW facilitates this by promoting non-discriminatory practices in the following areas.

Since it became a signatory to CEDAW, Australia has developed many mechanisms for enforcing the rights enshrined within this Convention. At the forefront are the mechanisms and ideals provided by the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) (the Sex Discrimination Act). The criminal justice system, the legal system and cultural attitudes, among others, are also utilised for the implementation and enforcement of the rights enshrined in CEDAW.

The Optional Protocol to CEDAW was accepted by the UN General Assembly on 6 October 1999 and opened for signing and ratification by national governments that were parties to CEDAW. Its provisions became operational on 22 December 2000.

In 1995, the Fourth World Conference on Women was held in Beijing, China. It is frequently referred to as the Beijing Conference. The Conference was the culmination of twenty years of work by the global women's movement, and resulted in the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA).

Raise awareness amongst your friends, family and colleagues about the importance of human rights - whether through informal discussion, or by taking a stand against inappropriate behaviour, such as sexual or racist harassment.

Every employer has the right to employ someone of their own choosing, based on a person’s suitability for a job. Employers best understand the main requirements of that job and what qualities are needed in an employee to meet those requirements. Yet it is also in employers’ interests to treat job applicants and employees fairly and in accordance with legal obligations.

2. I am presently employed by Australasian Correctional Management (ACM) as the Centre Manager of the Perth Immigration Detention Centre (PIDC). I am on extended leave from that position as I am unfit for work at present.

Contained in this document are recommendations from students of Amnesty International’s School’s Network who believe that the current system of undocumented asylum-seeker processing is inadequate. In this proposed procedure, both detention centres and the Temporary Protection Visa are abolished and are replaced by a system that is better (economically, socially, and psychologically) for both refugees and the Australian public. In it, special provisions are made to further protect children and minimise the stress involved in settling in Australia for them.

This is a brief submission outlining some specific instances of infringements on the child’s rights to profess and practice religion freely while being detained in the Curtin Immigration Reception and Processing Centre, WA, between October 2001 and August 2002.

The immediate and long-term impact of trauma on children and young people: The implications of placement in detention centres for recovery from trauma and development of resilience

Australia ratified its commitment to the Convention of the Rights of the Child in 1989. Australia has also committed itself to other human rights standards such as the Refugee Convention. In order to fulfil these obligations and on pure humanitarian grounds, it is imperative that children in detention are afforded these rights.

"There have been times in our history when Australia has been generous and open hearted and times when it has been very mean. In 1938 at the Evian Conference about dealing with Jewish and other refugees from Hitler, Australia took a flint hearted position, saying that we did not want to import Europe's problems, or to increase racial differences, and that refugees should get back in the queue.

2. I was employed from October 2000 to June 2001 by Australasian Correctional Management (ACM) at the Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre (WIRPC) as a Medical Officer.

“I saw an Afghani guy cut his own throat in my compound – he was working with me in the kitchen that day, and after work, he went outside and he cut himself up everywhere. It was really hard. Even the officers started crying when this happened”. [17–year–old asylum-seeker]