New group's initial members include Human Rights Law Centre, Law Council of Australia
With the launch of the Human Rights As We Age Network, key civil society organisations and individuals have joined forces to strive toward the shared goal of promoting the human rights of older persons within Australia and abroad.
The Australian network’s members seek to work together to promote the development of an international legally binding instrument regarding older people’s human rights and the pursuit of a national human rights act and framework, according to a media release from the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).
Per the media release, the new network aims to “make the improbable possible,” including by attaining practical results such as a United Nations Convention on the Rights of Older Persons, a national Human Rights Act for Australia, and discrimination law reforms.
The AHRC’s planned initiatives also include efforts to educate and inform Australians on older persons’ rights. The AHRC stressed that, as the country ages, there is an increasingly urgent necessity for enforceable human rights for older persons.
The AHRC noted that Robert Fitzgerald, Australia’s age discrimination commissioner, and Sue Hendy, director of the International Federation on Ageing, will co-chair the new network.
“This collaborative network will aim to advance the human rights of older persons both internationally and nationally, adding weight to the many established civil society initiatives,” Fitzgerald said in the media release.
“This Network will play an important role in advancing the rights of older people,” Hendy added in the media release. “Together we can and will make a difference in pursuing a world without ageism, where people can age with dignity and unhindered by negative attitudes and stereotypes.”
According to the AHRC’s media release, the initial members of the new network include:
The Human Rights Law Centre has worked to promote and protect the human rights of millions of individuals in Australia, including through strategic legal action, advocacy, and targeted media, since 2006.
The Law Council, which acts as the Australian legal profession’s national representative body, seeks to speak on behalf of the profession’s constituent bodies regarding federal, national, and international issues. It also aims to advance the rule of law, legal improvements, access to justice, and the administration of justice.
Recently, the Law Council welcomed the United Nations Human Rights Council’s passage of a resolution to commence an intergovernmental process to draft an international treaty to protect older persons’ human rights.
