International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD)

The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) is the primary international legal instrument relating to the protection of discrimination on the basis on race.  Australia became a signatory to the ICERD in 1966 and ratified it in 1975.  

The ICERD is incorporated into Australia’s domestic law through the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 and the Racial Hatred Act 1995.

 The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) is the treaty body which monitors ICERD.  

The Committee meets in Geneva twice a year to monitor States parties’ compliance with the Convention.  The Committee is comprised of 18 independent experts.  Members serve in their personal capacity and do not represent any country.

Australia reported to CERD on 11 August 2010 please click to download the summary document CERD Session news on Australia's Report 11 August 2010 or the full report of the CERD Concluding Observations for Australia 2010 

The Australian Government submitted its 'periodic report' to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).  The report will be examined by CERD in August, in Geneva, Switzerland (probably in the second week of August). The Human Rights Legal Resource Centre (HRLRC) and a number of other organisations coordinated efforts to put together a CERD Shadow Report to give another viewpoint to the  Government's report to CERD.  FAIRA (Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action (FAIRA) in cooperation with a number of Aboriginal legal services) coordinated submissions for the CERD Shadow Report from around Australia on violations raised by Indigenous peoples.

Please click to download a copy of Australia's 15th 16th and 17th CERD Report 2009

More information the session which Australia will report from is available at the OHCHR website.

Main Provisions of ICERD

The main rights included in ICERD are the rights to:

•    equality before the law;

•    civil and political rights, such as:

•    vote;

•    marriage;

•    own property;

•   freedom of thought and religion;

•   freedom of opinion and expression;

•   freedom of assembly and association;

•   economic, social and cultural rights, such as the right to:

  -    work and to enjoy just and favourable conditions of work;

 -     health;

 -     housing;

 -     education;

  -    participate in cultural activities.

CERD’s Recent Concluding Observations on Australia

In March 2005, CERD released a number of recommendations (known as “Concluding Observations”) on steps that Australia should take to ensure compliance with its obligations under ICERD.  Some of the Committee’s concerns that relate particularly to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples include:

•   native title rights;

•   the abolition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC);

•    the wide gap between Indigenous peoples and others in the area of employment, housing, health, education and income;

•    the absence of any entrenched guarantee against racial discrimination in Australian law;

•    the over-representation of Indigenous peoples in prisons, and Indigenous women as the fastest growing prison population; and

•    the high percentage of Indigenous deaths in custody.

A copy of the full CERDs Concluding Observations on Australia is available here (.pdf?). 

Australia’s next periodic report to the Committee was submitted on January 2010 and is available here (hyperlink to the report). 

To Get Active in providing information back to the Committee on Australia's next report click here (hyperlink to Shadow Reporting)

CERD General Comments

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

General Comment No 23: Indigenous Peoples

This General Comment represents the Committee’s recognition of the ICERD’s particular relevance to the right of Indigenous peoples.  It addresses the roles and obligations of State Parties’ in respecting, defending and advancing Indigenous rights. 

General Comment No 21: Right of self-determination

This General Comment emphasizes the rights of all peoples, including Indigenous persons, to pursue freely their economic, social and cultural development as well as public and political status without outside interference and discrimination.

Copies of the CERD General Comments are available here.

Individual Complaints

Any individual who claims that her or his rights under the ICERD have been violated may make an individual complaint to the Committee.  Australia has declared under Article 14 of the Convention that it recognises the competence of the Committee to receive and consider complaints from individuals or groups within its jurisdiction.   

For more information on how to make an individual complaint to a treaty body committee please click here.

Related Links

Click here for a copy of the ICERD.

Click here for further information about the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.