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Bill of Rights and their application to present day society
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Human Rights are a privilege or power whereby any one person is able to do as they please within reason. Generally, these privileges are outlined by each country in what is known as a Bill, or Charter, of Rights. It is also outlined universally in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 which provides countries, such as Australia who don’t have a Bill of Rights, a reference point for certain pieces of legislation.“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood,” (United Nations, 1948). Australia is the only western country that does not have this documentation and there has been ongoing debate whether Australia should …show more content…
2016) creates unease amongst the population. It is the only western country that does not have a Bill of Rights, and Australians believe our political system is being left behind. For numerous years Australians did not want a Bill of Rights due to not wanting to be in association with the United States, however, since New Zealand’s recent enactment of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (Cth) many are beginning to reconsider the notion that the population and political system is better off without a Bill of Rights. Former Australian politician, Ron Dyer, is also sceptical about the current situation political parties are facing and how they are handling the anti-terrorism acts as well as the countless breaches of Human Rights, “It seems to me that these laws [anti-terrorism laws] go well beyond the proper limits that should apply in a liberal democracy” (Dyer, R. 2016). Discriminatory actions have been made by parliamentary figures for numerous years against certain people, and cases such as Mabo v Queensland (No 1) 1988 played a role in the amendments of some legislation but did not stop the discrimination from prevailing. Although the notion that Australia needs a Bill of Rights is beginning to progress through the population, there is still a strong ideology amongst Australians that there is no need for a Bill of
The English Bill of Rights is an Act of the Parliament of England that deals with constitutional matters and sets out certain basic civil rights. This constitution was passed on December 16, 1689.The Bill was passed to declare laws and liberties of the people. Also the people wanted separation of powers and limits the of power to the king and queen. It guarantees the rights of enhancing the democratic election and to get more freedom of speech. No armies should be raised in peacetime, no taxes can be levied, without the authority of parliament. Laws should not be dispensed with, or suspended, without the consent of parliament and no excessive fines should imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. King James the 2nd, had abused his
A Constitution is a set of rules put in place to govern a country, by which the parliament, executive and judiciary must abide by in law making and administering justice. In many countries, these laws are easily changed, while in Australia, a referendum process must take place to alter the wording of the Constitution (Commonwealth of Australia, date unknown, South Australian Schools Constitutional Convention Committee 2001). Since the introduction of the Australian Constitution in January 1901, there have been sufficient proposals to alter and insert sections within the body to reflect the societal values of the day, ensuring the Constitution remains relevant to the Australian people. Although Constitutional reform can be made on a arrangement of matters, the latest protests on Indigenous recognition and racial references within the body of the Constitution has called into question the validity of racial inclusion, and whether amendments should be made to allow for recognition. This essay will focus on the necessity of these amendments and evaluate the likelihood of change through the process of referenda.
Throughout the world, in history and in present day, injustice has affected all of us. Whether it is racial, sexist, discriminatory, being left disadvantaged or worse, injustice surrounds us. Australia is a country that has been plagued by injustice since the day our British ancestors first set foot on Australian soil and claimed the land as theirs. We’ve killed off many of the Indigenous Aboriginal people, and also took Aboriginal children away from their families; this is known as the stolen generation. On the day Australia became a federation in 1901, the first Prime Minister of Australia, Edmund Barton, created the White Australia Policy. This only let people of white skin colour migrate to the country. Even though Australia was the first country to let women vote, women didn’t stand in Parliament until 1943 as many of us didn’t support female candidates, this was 40 years after they passed the law in Australian Parliament for women to stand in elections. After the events of World War Two, we have made an effort to make a stop to these issues here in Australia.
Rice, S (2011) ‘Reflections on reforming discrimination laws in Australia’, Human Rights law Centre, viewed 4 October 2011, .
The rights and freedoms achieved in Australia in the 20th and 21st century can be described as discriminating, dehumanising and unfair against the Indigenous Australians. Indigenous Australians have achieved rights and freedoms in their country since the invasion of the English Monarch in 1788 through the exploration and development of laws, referendums and processes. Firstly, this essay will discuss the effects of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the Indigenous Australians through dehumanising and discriminating against them. Secondly, this essay will discuss how Indigenous Australians gained citizenship and voting
Indigenous Australian land rights have sparked controversy between Non Indigenous and Indigenous Australians throughout history. The struggle to determine who the rightful owners of the land are is still largely controversial throughout Australia today. Indigenous Australian land rights however, go deeper than simply owning the land as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have established an innate spiritual connection making them one with the land. The emphasis of this essay is to determine how Indigenous Australian land rights have impacted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, highlighting land rights regarding the Mabo v. the State of Queensland case and the importance behind today’s teachers understanding and including Indigenous
In 1791, the Bill of Rights, consisting of 10 amendments, was ratified into the constitution. The document’s purpose was to spell out the liberties of the people that the government could not infringe upon. Considered necessary by many at the time of its development, the Bill of Rights became the cause for a huge debate between two different factions: The Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Federalists were those who thought that there should be a new Union created with a strong centralized government and individual regional governments. They felt that it was not necessary for there to be a bill of rights because it was implied that those rights the Constitution did not specifically state would be handed down to the states. On the other hand, the Anti-Federalists were opposed to such a form of government on the grounds that the Constitution, in which it was outlined, lacked clarity in the protections of the individuals. The Anti-Federalists—whose memory of British oppression was still fresh in their minds—wanted certain rights and guarantees that were to be apart of the constitution (Glasser 1991). A clear demonstration of the Anti-Federalist attitude was performed by Samuel Bryan, who published a series of essays named the ‘Cenitnal Essays,’ which “assailed the sweeping power of the central government, the usurpation of state sovereignty, and the absence of a bill of rights guaranteeing individual liberties such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion (Bran 1986).” Of course, the freedoms stated above are a portion and not the whole of The Bill of Rights. Ultimately, The Bill of Rights was adopted to appease the Anti-Federalists, whose support was necessary to ratify the constitution, and who believed that without the liberties granted therein, the new constitution—that they thought was vague and granted too much power to the central government—would give way to an elite tyrannical government.
Indigenous Australians began to be robbed of their rights and freedoms when the Europeans colonized Australia. Since then, Aboriginal people and Indigenous supporters have taken steps towards equality and reconciliation.
Indigenous Australians have had a controversial place throughout Australian history, with World War 1 being one of the main events in this topic. Although there were no aboriginals that went to fight in World War I, it was not that they didn't want to because of their violent history with the British, it was because the British didn't allow them to enlist for World War 1.
International human rights law is a subset of public international law, and as such, it engages the commitment of nation states. Australia is a parliamentary democracy. The Australian Constitution of 1901 established a federal system of government in Australia. Under this system, powers are distributed between a national government (the Commonwealth) and the six States.
However, Australia has still not guaranteed the rights of their citizens, through the implementation of a Bill of Rights. Being the only western democracy without any
Throughout history, human rights have been violated. Human rights are rights and liberties that are guaranteed to everyone at birth and that belongs to every human being. On December 10th 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was created to protect every living human in this world to obey. The main purpose of these rights are to enforce balanced rights of all people.
Kirby, M. 1997, ‘Bill of Rights for Australia – But do we need it?’, viewed 30 March 2014, < http://www.lawfoundation.net.au/ljf/app/&id=/A60DA51D4C6B0A51CA2571A7002069A0>
Aropa assignment A MP for Tohunga and the Prime Minister has been the butt of Bart’s jokes. They decided to introduce a private member’s bill to Parliament which would make it a criminal offence to publish any statement that is likely to harm the reputation or to lower opinions of or feelings towards a public figure, regardless of whether that statement is true or not. The Prime minister want to make the legislation retrospective. Bill of Rights 1688 (UK) gave Parliament plenary power to make law. One of the principal constitutional doctrine in Bill of Rights 1688 called parliamentary sovereignty, says that Parliament can make any legislation it likes.
…rights which are inherent to the human being ... human rights acknowledges that every single human being is entitled to enjoy his or her human rights without distinction as to race, [color], sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. [To add on, human] rights are legally guaranteed by human rights law, protecting individuals and groups against actions that interfere with fundamental freedoms and human dignity (Human rights for