This election, candidates need to commit to human rights.
Tens of thousands of young people will be voting for the first time this election. And, for the first time, Millennials and Gen Z will make up close to 50% of voters. The cost-of-living crisis has made housing and healthcare increasingly unaffordable and inaccessible.
The election of Donald Trump has emboldened politicians in Australia to attack marginalised communities, like removing the right of trans young people to access gender-affirming healthcare, and cracking down on the right to protest. We can’t afford to standby.
Ahead of the federal election, we asked the three major parties to respond to our Human Rights Agenda — a set of policy recommendations across four key campaign areas.
We received responses from Labor and the Greens. The Coalition (Liberal and Nationals) did not respond. We also assessed each party’s record on these issues over the past three years. The scorecard above reflects both their responses to our Human Rights Agenda and our independent assessment of their policies and actions.
Amnesty is calling on the next Australian Government to ensure human rights are a bedrock on which all domestic and international policy is formed. As part of our human rights agenda, Amnesty International calls on the next Australian Government to:
- Legislate a national Human Rights Act that transforms Australia’s approach to human rights, justice and equality.
- Take federal leadership in reducing the over-imprisonment of First Nations children and preventing abuse in youth detention centres.
- Adopt a humane and generous policy to support refugees and people seeking asylum.
- Promote and defend international human rights, with a particular focus on the genocide in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and repression in China, Afghanistan and Myanmar.
We need to take action, together, and show our candidates that us as voters want them to prioritise a human rights agenda, and to create a future where everyone has a peaceful place to call home, where government’s take action to end over-imprisonment, and where everyone can access and afford food, water and healthcare.
Authorised by Sam Klintworth, Amnesty International Australia, Sydney/Gadigal
