A study in 2006 looked at the attitudes of young Australians to human rights. Anita Harvey reports.

Young Australians recognise that most Australians, by global standards, are privileged enough to have access to shelter, food, water, free health care and free schooling, whilst others in developing countries aren't so lucky. They also believe that Australians should do more to support those in need in developing countries.

These are the findings of a Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) project designed to find out young Australians' views on human rights. The project, Young People and Human Rights Dialogue, aimed to involve as many young Australians as possible in listening to their views on a wide range of issues.

Young people described human rights in various forms, from laws and religious principles, to family and community ideals; they put a strong emphasis on individual rights, and in some cases saw the rights of the individual outweighing cultural or religious beliefs.

Equality

Participants acknowledged that human rights is a complex idea but they showed strong support for the idea of social equality, expressing their disapproval of discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, gender, sexual preference, age and physical appearance - as well as harassment and bullying.

Freedom of speech was the most frequently mentioned right. Participants felt that young people should be able to have a say in whatever they considered important, but they believed that young people were often overlooked. "The government always goes on that 'Children are our future', but they never listen to us," said one respondent.

In an Australian context, they agreed the issue of refugees was the single most important concern, in particular the policy of mandatory detention of asylum seekers.

This interest in the refugee issue may have been a result of the high profile media campaigns surrounding the issues of mandatory detention. Especially as the project found a great deal of knowledge on human rights issues was gained through the media. Most participants also brought human rights issues to their own backyard with the rights of Indigenous Australians gaining a sympathetic view.

Across the world

It was the right to education and other basic rights, such as access to water, food and shelter, that were identified as some of the most important rights to uphold across the world.

"Well, there's no point really in having human rights if you're going to die at the age of 10. I just think that you have to remain healthy physically, and it should be an obligation of countries that can spare money to help other countries," was one comment.

This was a common view as was their support for the idea that wealthier nations, such as Australia, have an obligation to assist poorer countries to escape poverty.

"The greatest enemy the poor have is our indifference. To create global justice and eradicate poverty we need to build bridges of partnership between developed and developing countries," said one participant.

Worryingly, the project discovered that human rights awareness among Australian youth is low. While most young people have a general knowledge of human rights gained from the media, those with the most extensive and sophisticated knowledge of the subject had gained it at school.

HREOC points out that there is very little mandatory human rights content in the current school curricula. As former Human Rights Commissioner, Dr Sev Ozdowski says, "Given the multitude of ideas and facts bombarding them from a range of media, how do they (young people) recognise which information will best empower them in their transition into responsible adulthood?"

This view is echoed by Mara Moustafine, National Director of Amnesty International Australia, "Human rights education is essential if we are to build communities that respect the human rights of all their members, and whose laws, values, activities and government policies - at home and internationally - promote and protect those human rights."

How the project worked

Short questionnaires where sent to over a thousand young people to try and find out about their knowledge of human rights, their level of understanding and the importance they attached to human rights as an issue. It also asked about the number of civic, community and school organisations they had joined, and their involvement in political activities.

To gain personal responses, the project also involved focus groups and essay and art competitions.