This article first appeared in Article 13 (Law and Policy Journal of the National Children's and Youth Law Centre), issn 1447 - 2651, September 2002.

What is the Committee on the Rights of the Child?

• provide information about the steps taken by a country to give effect to the rights in CROC and the progress made in ensuring that children enjoy these rights; and
• indicate any factors or difficulties which affect a country's fulfilment of its obligations.

The Australian government indicated in its First Report that it would establish a regular forum for non-government organisations to discuss human rights concerns including the discussion of children's issues. A range of NGO's is invited to an annual meeting in Canberra to discuss children's issues. There is no reference in the First Report to any consultation with children and young people.

What issues does the Committee regularly raise in its observations and recommendations?

• asks countries to review any reservations they have entered to CROC;
• seeks an update on measures taken in response to observations and recommendations made by the Committee in previous reports; asks whether the country has developed a comprehensive national strategy and plan of action for children within the framework of the Convention. Such a plan should specify what actions are proposed to bring laws and policies into line with CROC, and should identify specific goals and timelines to achieve compliance;
• recommends that countries through Federal and State governments ensure that data is systematically gathered in a form that will enable an appraisal of whether laws and policies are effectively delivering the benefits provided by the Convention. The Committee often asks that countries record information about the number and nature of complaints received from, or on behalf of, children;
• requests information on steps taken to ensure a periodic evaluation of the progress made in the implementation of the Convention at a national, federal, regional and local level. The Committee may ask which body is responsible for monitoring of progress towards full implementation; and
• asks whether the principles of CROC have been incorporated into domestic law.

• that there is no right to launch complaints in the local courts on the basis of CROC;
• the absence of a comprehensive policy for children at federal level, and the lack of monitoring mechanisms at federal, state and territory levels. Such mechanisms are of essential importance for the evaluation and promotion of policies and programs developed for the benefit of children. It recommended that a federal body be created with the responsibility for drawing up and monitoring programs and policies for the implementation CROC;
• the disparities between the different State and Territory legislation and practices; that employment legislation at Federal level, and in some States and Territories, does not specify minimum ages below which children are not allowed to be employed. The law also does not prohibit the employment of children who are still in compulsory education;
• that the minimum age of criminal responsibility is generally set at the very low level of 7 to 10 years, depending on the State or Territory;
• that the general principles of the Convention, in particular those related to non-discrimination (Article 2) and the respect for the views of the child (Article 12) are not being fully applied;
• the special problems still faced by Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders, as well as by children of non-English-speaking backgrounds, concerning their enjoyment of the same standards of living and levels of services, particularly in education and health;
• the lack of prohibition in local legislation of corporal punishment, however light, in schools, at home and in institutions, and the existence of child abuse and violence within the family;
• local legislation that allows police to remove groups of children and young people, which is an infringement on children's civil rights, including the right to assembly;
• spread of homelessness amongst young people. The Committee was worried that this puts children at risk of involvement in prostitution, drug abuse, pornography, other forms of delinquency and economic exploitation. The incidence of suicide among young people is an additional cause of concern to the Committee;
• the continued practice of female genital mutilation in some communities, and that there is no legislation prohibiting it in any of the States;
• the treatment of asylum seekers, refugees and their children, and their placement in detention centres;
• the juvenile justice system, the treatment of children deprived of their liberty, particularly the unjustified and disproportionately high percentage of Aboriginal children in the juvenile justice system. Concern was also expressed at the mandatory detention provisions in Northern Territory and Western Australia and the impact of these laws on indigenous youth.

The website of the NSW Commission for Children and Young People provides a summary of the Articles of CROC - www.kids.nsw.gov.au.

Children Rights and the Law, Eds P Alston, S Parker, J Seymour, Clarendon Paperbacks 1992

Where Rights are Wronged: A critique of Australia's compliance with UNCROC, G Brewer, P Swain, Children's Interests Bureau of Australia

Australia's Report under CROC, Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department, 1995

Australia's Promises to Children - the Alternative Report, Defence for Children International, 1996

Citizen Child, Ed K Funder, Australian Institute of Family Studies, 1996

Observations and Recommendations on Australia's first report, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, 1997

Implementation Handbook for CROC, R Hodgkin, P Newell, UNICEF, 1998

Go back to All About CROC - Introduction

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