An intergovernmental working group is set to draft an international human rights treaty
The Law Council of Australia has welcomed the United Nations Human Rights Council’s passage of a resolution to commence an intergovernmental process to draft an international treaty on older people’s human rights.
The resolution was passed on 3 April. In a media release, the Law Council said it has long expressed support for the creation of a convention on older people’s rights, including in the Royal Commission context. The council explained that such an instrument would help governments develop more comprehensive laws to safeguard older people in all situations.
The Law Council said that Australia’s Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) and other advocates of older people’s rights have been pushing for the adoption of such a convention for many years. The council said it was pleased that the Human Rights Council has recognised these efforts, with Australia being one of the resolution’s co-sponsors.
The Law Council described Australia as a pioneer in safeguarding older people’s rights against discrimination, including through its passage of the Age Discrimination Act 2004 (Cth). The Law Council said it was excited to be a part of drafting discussions in the future.
“However, human rights are much more than just anti-discrimination, and twenty years on there is still much work to do to prevent neglect and mistreatment of older persons in this country,” the council said. “This was amply demonstrated by [the] report of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Royal Commission.”
Human Rights Watch called the resolution “an important victory” in the areas of human rights and multilateralism amid these times of rising international uncertainty.
“The UN Human Rights Council’s decision to pursue an international treaty on the rights of older people is a landmark victory not just for older people, but for everyone,” said Bridget Sleap, Human Rights Watch’s senior researcher on older people’s rights, in a news release. “State support for this treaty is an important endorsement of the multilateral human rights system.”
Human Rights Watch noted that older people regularly experience human rights violations. These include violence; mistreatment; age-based discrimination; social, economic, and political exclusion; denial of access to care and support services; insufficient social security; exclusion from climate change responses; and abuses during armed conflict.
“Human rights last a lifetime, and rights in older age should be guaranteed as at any other time in our lives,” Sleap said in Human Rights Watch’s news release. “Ageism, age discrimination, and violation of older people’s rights demand the same degree of attention and protection in the international human rights system as any other rights abuses.”
Human Rights Watch shared that the UN Working Group on Ageing acknowledged existing protection gaps for older people and stressed the need to fill them with a new international instrument last year, following 14 sessions. Human Rights Watch recognised the advocacy work of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People (GAROP) in this area.
Human Rights Watch said that the intergovernmental working group plans to hold its first meeting before the end of this year. Human Rights Watch said the group should move swiftly and collaborate with stakeholders, especially older people and their representative organizations from around the globe.
“The fruits of decades of discussions and advocacy have brought us here, but much work lies ahead,” Sleap said.
