Examine the nature and development of human rights, including the historical recognition of human rights, the abolition of slavery, trade unionism and labour rights, universal suffrage, universal education, self-determination, and environmental rights

What this dot point is asking

NESA wants you to know what human rights are, where they came from, and how the modern framework evolved through six developments: the abolition of slavery, trade unionism and labour rights, universal suffrage, universal education, self-determination, and environmental rights. Expect this in a Section III stimulus or as background for the contemporary issue extended response.

The answer

Defining human rights

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 modern definition was articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 (UDHR), proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948. Article 1 states "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."

Historical philosophical foundations

• Natural law theory (Thomas Aquinas, 13th century). Rights derive from a moral order discoverable by reason.
• Social contract theory (Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, 17th-18th century). Rights are the terms on which individuals consent to be governed.
• The Enlightenment. Universal individual rights emerged as a political claim in the American Declaration of Independence 1776 and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen 1789.

The abolition of slavery

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).

Trade unionism and labour rights

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.

Universal suffrage

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)).

Universal education

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.

Self-determination

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

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. Litigation increasingly frames climate change as a human rights issue (see Sharma v Minister for the Environment (2021) 248 FCR 121, which recognised a duty of care to children in relation to climate change at first instance but was overturned on appeal).