Quick questions on The nature and development of human rights: HSC Legal Studies

Human rights are rights that are universal (apply to all human beings), inherent (held by virtue of being human), inalienable (cannot be given away or taken without due process) and indivisible (civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights are interdependent).

The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 (UK) abolished slavery throughout most of the British Empire. The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery in the United States in 1865. Slavery is now prohibited under article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 and article 8 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966. Modern slavery (human trafficking, forced labour) is the subject of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth).

The rise of organised labour in the 19th and 20th centuries produced the first generation of socio-economic rights: the right to safe working conditions, fair pay, and freedom to form and join trade unions. The International Labour Organization (ILO), founded in 1919 and now a UN specialised agency, develops international labour standards. Australia is a member and has ratified the eight ILO Fundamental Conventions.

The right to vote in free and fair elections developed unevenly across the 19th and 20th centuries. In Australia, the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 granted the vote to most women, but excluded Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people gained the unrestricted Commonwealth vote in 1962 (Commonwealth Electoral Act 1962 (Cth)).

Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 recognises the right to education. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966 elaborates this in articles 13 and 14. In Australia, compulsory primary education was legislated in the second half of the 19th century, with most states enacting compulsory school attendance by 1900.

The right of peoples to self-determination is recognised in common article 1 of the two 1966 Covenants. It includes the right of colonised peoples to political independence (the post-1945 decolonisation movement) and the right of Indigenous peoples to self-determination, recognised in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2007. Self-determination remains the underlying principle behind contemporary debates around Indigenous voice, treaty and constitutional recognition.

Environmental rights are a comparatively recent addition. The Stockholm Declaration 1972 first recognised a link between human rights and the environment. In 2022 the UN General Assembly Resolution 76/300 recognised the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The Rio Declaration 1992 underpins the principle of sustainable development.

Many women gained the vote in 1902; Indigenous Australians gained an unrestricted Commonwealth vote in 1962.

It applies equally to Indigenous peoples within established states. :::