The concept of ‘rights’ and ‘obligations’ of individuals and governments as key players in the human rights discourse

The literature review section discusses the concept of rights and obligations from the perspective of individuals and governments in Australia. Every democratic country in this world has its fundamental freedom rights. There are five fundamental freedom rights in Australia. That is described in the below section. The literature section then concluded by highlighting different types of rights and their obligations towards others and society.

Human rights are rights that aim to protect all human beings irrespective of their ethnicity, race, nationality, sex, religion, religion, and any other status. In general, human rights consist of the right to freedom of speech, right to liberty, right to life, right to education, right to freedom of expression, and many more. Every country has its rights and obligations which are overseen and monitored by the United Nations (Habermas, 2018). All the individuals living in Australia must jointly work with its government to maintain the proper framework of human rights and obligations. On the other hand, the international human right council introduced some rules and regulations to monitor how one country’s government works to protect basic human rights (Nations, 2022). Furthermore, international laws also protect and promote fundamental freedoms and human rights of groups or individuals.

 

Figure: The role of the Australian Governments to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights

(Source: HUMAN RIGHTS HANDBOOK. 2022)

The role of the Australian government becomes very crucial to maintaining the framework of social order. The state implements various rules and regulations without which marinating the perfect social life balance would not be possible. According to the concept of Aristotle, “State came into existence out of base necessities of life and continues for the sake of good life” (Abakare, 2020). Therefore, the existence of the Australian government can be recognized only after it protects the rights of individuals.

On the other hand, the common people living in this nation must fight for their human rights for the sake of harmony in society. Its violation can cause a severe impact on the lives of individuals and society in general. Each common human being is entitled to their basic human rights which are inherent. Such rights must not be violated based on religion, caste, ethnicity, gender, and many other aspects. Human rights can also be defined as inherent rights, basic rights, natural rights, or fundamental rights. The sole duty of the Australian government is to protect these rights to develop the nation and its individual as a whole (Timmer et al. 2021). The governments of all nations must work jointly to encourage the welfare of individuals by removing all types of discrimination.

Freedom Rights in Australia

In general, there are five fundamental rights in Australia – freedom of religion, speech, movement, association, and assembly.

Freedom of speech: Australians are free to express their expression, within the bounds of government law, to write or say whatever they think both publicly or privately, about any topic or the government. In general, people do not criticize the media or government because of the fear of getting arrested. In this regard, “freedom of speech” allows each individual to comment on any topic without harming the interests of others (Steele et al. 2019). However, there are some rules and regulations against people misusing this specific right.

Freedom of association: This human right highlight that every individual living in this nation is free to join any public or political group. Furthermore, this right also allows the common people in this nation to be in a trade union or any other organization if it is legal. Therefore, having this right makes the Australian democracy suitable, healthy, and strong.

 

Figure 3.1: Scores of nations in terms of maintaining human rights

(Source: Herre, &Roser, 2022)

Freedom of assembly: This right also allows one individual to meet with others in private or public places. People can meet in large or small groups for political, social, or legal purposes. The concept of free expression makes each individual able to demonstrate or protest anything (Holcombe, & Anderson, 2021). However, protests should be violent or break any type of government law such as trespassing, assaulting, and looting. People should peacefully change their governments without any kind of violence.

Freedom of religion: There is no official religion in this nation. Nevertheless, basic human rights allow every individual to practice their religion. This law does not force any kind of religious doctrine; however, religious sentiments practices must align with the law. People living in this nation are free to follow any religion of their choice. People are also free to practice no religion.

Freedom of movement: Australians have their freedom of movement. This law highlights that each living in this country can move or roam freely in all states and territories. This law also allows returning or leaving Australia at any specific time (Godrich et al. 2021). However, some migrants living in Australia need some verified documents until they become a citizen of Australia.

As per the view of Goldson et al. (2020), when the common people in Australia think about violations of human rights, they usually think about the human right violation in other countries. Human rights violations can be of various types such as unlawful political executions, dictatorship, or torture. When these types of violations occur on a large scale there is a trend to think that, by comparison, any such issues in Australia are minor. However. Such types of human rights violations can also be found in this nation. Some groups in this nation are particularly helpless to such human rights violation issues. They include asylum seekers, “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, people”, people living in poverty, “migrants from non-English speaking backgrounds”, people with disabilities, and some minority groups.

Human rights issues in Australia

 

Figure 4.1: Human rights violation issues in Australia

(Source: Australian Human Rights Commission. 2022)

Violations of human rights can severely impact an individual. Some individuals might face discrimination against them at their workplaces because of their gender, age, religion, race, ethnicity, or any other factor. On the other hand, other people with various kinds of gender identities or sexual orientations might get bullied when they express themselves. Children, the elderly, and young people could be subjected to human rights violations while roaming playgrounds. No matter from which social class a person belongs in this nation, they could be exposed to any type of human rights violations. Some common human rights issues in this nation are women’s rights, valuing multiculturalism, harassment and bullying, equal love: LGBTI rights, and “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders: Australia’s First Peoples” (“Hot Topics | Australian Human Rights Commission”, 2022).

Concept of duties: Every individual must follow certain duties and obligations towards others in society. There is a legal obligation to pay income tax, refrain from committing any crime or violating any government law, and abide by the laws implemented by the Australian parliament. However, the breach of any legal laws can trigger imprisonment or financial consequences (Crotty, & Hope, 2020). Human rights and duties are interconnected and as a member of society these rules and regulations must be abiding by individuals

Concept of rights: Human rights are developed to focus on two specific concepts “Anti-dehumanization and Anti-hierarchy”. In this nation, these can be reflected in the context of fundamental rights provided by the constitution. Makers of the Australian constitution while reflecting on basic human rights were of the view that all individuals must have access to basic equality and dignity. The state cannot take away these fundamental human rights.

Rights to be protected: There are some basic human rights that every democratic nation follows by following Human Rights Act. they focus on some basic issues such as freedom, life, shelter, liberty from slavery, freedom from unethical treatments, and many more. However, there are some rules and regulation that also applies in everyday life. Like, what the common people see, experience, eat, belief, and also the right to raise a family or marry (Piccini, 2019). The human rights act generally applies to all the public sectors and authorities such as both state and central governments, NGOs, Trusts in this nation, and local and foreign authorities.

Rights to stand against hierarchy: Australian society is generally divided based on ethnicity, religion, caste, and lines of gender. Fundamental rights aim to protect every individual based on the above-mentioned points not only from social majorities but also from state and central government (Allison et al. 2019). For example, protection against untouchability, discriminatory practices, and other issues aim to bring transformation into Australian society.

Conclusion

It is concluded that the people living in Australia and its government are working jointly to establish better human rights and obligations practices. In this context, it is always crucial to remember that every human being must abide by the rules and regulations imposed by the government, and do not partake in any kind of discriminatory practices within their society. It is hoped that the Australian government would do the necessary steps to protect the rights of every citizen living in this nation. 

Reference

Abakare, C. (2020). The Origin Of Virtue Ethics: Aristotle’s Views. GNOSI: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Human Theory and Praxis, 3(1), 98-112.

Allison, S., Bastiampillai, T., O’Reilly, R., Sharfstein, S. S., & Castle, D. (2019). Widespread emergency department access block: a human rights issue in Australia?. Australasian Psychiatry, 27(1), 10-13.

Crotty, J., & Hope, C. (2020). Speechless: An operatic response to human rights abuse in twenty-first-century Australia. In Opera, Emotion, and the Antipodes Volume II (pp. 75-89). Routledge.

Godrich, S. L., Barbour, L., & Lindberg, R. (2021). Problems, policy, and politics–perspectives of public health leaders on food insecurity and human rights in Australia. BMC public health, 21(1), 1-12.

Goldson, B., Cunneen, C., Russell, S., Brown, D., Baldry, E., Schwartz, M., & Briggs, D. (2020). Youth’Justice’in Australia: Histories of Human Rights Violation, Racialised Injustice, and Prospects of Redress. Court of Conscience, 14, 17-21.

Habermas, J. (2018). The concept of human dignity and the realistic utopia of human rights (pp. 52-70). Routledge.

Herre, B., &Roser, M. (2022). Human Rights. Retrieved 28 March 2022, from https://ourworldindata.org/human-rights

Holcombe, S., & Anderson, A. N. (2021). Language rights and Indigenous human rights in Central Australia.

Hot Topics | Australian Human Rights Commission. (2022). Retrieved 28 March 2022, from

https://humanrights.gov.au/education/students/hot-topics

HUMAN RIGHTS HANDBOOK. (2022). Retrieved 28 March 2022, from https://publications.age-platform.eu/chap1.php

Human Rights in Australia | Australian Human Rights Commission. (2022). Retrieved 28 March 2022, from

https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/education/human-rights-australia

Nations, U. (2022). Human Rights | United Nations. Retrieved 28 March 2022, from https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/human-rights

Piccini, J. (2019). Human Rights in Twentieth-century Australia. Cambridge University Press.

Steele, L., Swaffer, K., Phillipson, L., & Fleming, R. (2019). Questioning segregation of people living with dementia in Australia: an international human rights approach to care homes. Laws, 8(3), 18.

Timmer, A., Baumgärtel, M., Kotzé, L., &Slingenberg, L. (2021). The potential and pitfalls of the vulnerability concept for human rights. Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, 39(3), 190-197.