Convention on the Rights of the Child

Want to let the United Nations know how Australia protects and provides for its children?

The United Nations wants to know about how Australia protects and provides for its children. Do you have any information on issues affecting children?

Non Government Organisations (NGO) that work with children and young people in Australia can report to the United Nations on whether Australia is meeting its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Child Rights Australia is preparing an NGO report and welcomes and needs information from you.

All submissions are required by 17 December 2010.

17 December 2010 responses to be received

28 February 2011 first draft of NGO report to be available for comment

1 July 2011 NGO Report due to Committee on the Rights of the Child

Please click for more information on how to provide information to the NGO Report to CROC NGO Report to CROC - Call for Contributions.

Please direct all contributions, as well as any questions about the reporting process or your contribution to the NGO Report to:

Sarah Hoff
National Children’s and Youth Law Centre
Ph: (02) 9220 1568 (Monday - Tuesday)
Ph: (02) 9385 3637 (Wednesday - Friday)
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

About the CRC

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 1989 is the first international legal instruments that enshrine and incorporate the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of children.

Australia signed and ratified the CROC in 1990.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is a treaty body composed on 18 independent experts that monitors implementation of the CRC by its States parties. Committee members are elected for a term of four years and meet three times a year in Geneva.

In addition to reviewing regular reports by States parties, the Committee addresses its concerns and makes recommendations to States parties in the form of Concluding Observations. The Committee also organises days of general discussion, and publishes general comments that contain its interpretation of CRC provisions.

Main Provisions of CRC

The Convention applies to all individuals below the age of eighteen (article 1).

Substantial rights and state party obligations contained in the Convention which are of relevance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples include:

• enjoyment of rights of the child without discrimination of any kind

• the right to life

• the right to family, and not be separated from one’s parents against one’s will

• the right to health

• the right to a standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development

• the right to education, including education directed to the development of respect for the child’s own cultural identity, language and values

• the right of indigenous children to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practice his or her own religion and own language

• protection from physical or mental violence, injury, abuse, maltreatment or exploitation

Optional Protocols to CRC

Two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child exist:

§ The Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, dated 18 January 2002 (A/RES/54/263, dated 25 May 2000)

§ The Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict (A/RES/54/263, dated 25 May 2000)

CRC’s Concluding Observations on Australia

In October 2005, the Committee released its Concluding Observations in response to submission of the combined second and third periodic reports by Australia. The Committee’s concerns included:

• the high percentage of Indigenous children in juvenile detention
• inadequate standards of living, health and education of Indigenous children
• the high occurrence of HIV, substance abuse, out-of-home care and family violence among Indigenous children

A copy of the .pdf CRCs Concluding Observations on Australia is available here.

Australia has submitted its fourth periodic report which will be considered by the Committee during its next session in late 2010 or early 2011.

Get Active and click here to learn how to provide information in a report to the Committee on Australia' progress in meetings its obligations under the CRC.

General Comments

The CRC has issued the following General Comments that are of particular relevance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples:

General Comment No 11: Indigenous children and their rights under the Convention

General Comment No. 11 addresses specific references to Indigenous children in the Convention, and explores fundamental rights and general principles including non-discrimination, best interests and views of the child.

General Comment 10: Children’s rights in juvenile justice

General Comment No. 10 discusses the obligations of States parties to implement and develop comprehensive juvenile justice policies, in order to achieve and ensure compliance with their obligations under the Convention.

Copies of all General Comments are available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/comments.htm.

Individual Complaints Mechanism

The Committee is currently unable to consider individual and interstate complaints, although child rights may often be raised before other treaty bodies with competence to consider individual complaints.