International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) is the primary international legal instrument on economic, social and cultural rights.  Australia became a signatory to the ICESCR in 1972 and ratified it in 1975. 

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the ICESCR by its States parties. 

The Committee meets twice a year in Geneva to discuss and perform its monitoring functions, and also produces its interpretation of ICESCR provisions, known as General Comments.

Main Provisions of ICESCR

 Rights contained in the ICESCR which are of relevance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and people groups include the right to:

self determination

equality and non-discrimination

work, and the right to just and favorable work conditions

social security

an adequate standard of living, including the right to housing

highest attainable standard of health (both physical and mental)

education

culture and participation in cultural life

CESCR’s Recent Concluding Observations on Australia

In June 2009, CESCR issued its Concluding Observations on Australia’s compliance with the Convention.  Among the positive comments it made, the Committee:

 welcomed the Australian Government’s formal support to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;

 commended the parliamentary Apology to victims of the Stolen Generation policy and Indigenous peoples in Australia as a whole;

 acknowledged the Australian Government’s commitment to build a sustained and constructive partnership with indigenous peoples, and to close the gap in the enjoyment of the Covenant rights between indigenous and non indigenous Australians.  

The Committee expressed concerns in relation to:

the Northern Territory Intervention’s negative impact on the realisation of the rights of Indigenous peoples, including the lack of implementation of the recommendations of the Little Children Are Sacred report and the lack of sufficient and adequate consultation with affected communities;

the need for an adequately resourced national indigenous representative body;

Australia’s non-ratification of ILO Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries (1989);

the high unemployment rates among indigenous people, and recommended that special programs and measures be designed to address the significant barriers to the enjoyment of the right to work faced by many indigenous people;

conditionalities such as “mutual obligations” in the welfare to work programme and the “quarantining” of welfare payments under the Northern Territory Intervention that may have a punitive effect on disadvantaged and marginalized families, women and children;

 the high levels of domestic violence against Indigenous women;

 the high incidence of homelessness;

the negative impact of climate change on the right to an adequate standard of living, including on the right to food and the right to water, affecting Indigenous peoples in particular;

the continuing high levels of ill health among indigenous people, in particular women and children, despite the Government’s commitment to “close the gap” in key health indicators between indigenous and non-indigenous people;

the insufficient support for Indigenous peoples with mental health problems;

 the persistence in the State party of disparities in access to the educational system for indigenous peoples, including those living in remote areas, compared with the rest of the population, as well as the deficient quality of education provided to persons living in remote areas, in particular indigenous peoples;

despite the reforms to the native title system, the high cost, complexity and strict rules of evidence applying to claims under the Native Title Act, have a negative impact on the recognition and protection of the right of indigenous peoples to their ancestral lands;

the large number of Indigenous languages are critically endangered; and

Indigenous cultural and intellectual property are not adequately protected.

A copy .pdf of the full Concluding Observations is available here.

Australia’s next periodic report to the Committee is due by 30 June 2014. 

CESCR General Comments

The Committee publishes its interpretation of the content of provisions of the ICESCR in the form of “General Comments”.  The Committee has issued the following General Comments that are of particular relevance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples:

General Comment No 21: Right of everyone to take part in cultural life

This General Comment addresses the full promotion of, and respect for, cultural rights.  

General Comment No 20: Non-Discrimination in Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

This General Comment recognises the socio-economic and cultural inequality faced by individuals and people groups due to entrenched historical and contemporary forms of discrimination.  The Committee reemphasizes the importance of equality and non-discrimination as fundamental components of international human rights law and essential to the exercise and enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights.

Copies of all CESCR General Comments are available here. 

Individual Complaints Mechanism

Any individual who claims that her or his rights have under the ICESCR have been violated may make an individual complaint to the Committee.  An individual complaints mechanism is established through the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR.  Complaints can only be brought against States parties who have recognized the competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications under the Optional Protocol. 

Currently, Australia is not a party to the Optional Protocol and has not recognised the competence of the Committee to receive and consider complaints from individuals or groups within its jurisdiction. 

Related Links

Click here for a copy of the ICESCR

Click here for a copy of the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR

Click here for further information about the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights