Inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights Framework (2023)

On 15 March 2023, pursuant to section 7(c) of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011, the Attorney-General referred to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights the following matters for inquiry and report by 31 March 2024:

• to review the scope and effectiveness of Australia’s 2010 Human Rights Framework and the National Human Rights Action Plan;
• to consider whether the Framework should be re-established, as well as the components of the Framework, and any improvements that should be made;
• to consider developments since 2010 in Australian human rights laws (both at the Commonwealth and State and Territory levels) and relevant case law; and
• to consider any other relevant matters.

The committee invited submissions up to 1 July 2023 in relation to these matters.

Readers might wish to pause now to look at the relevant website.

A copy of my submission follows:

A submission to the Inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights Framework

Dear members of the Committee

Thank you for extending this opportunity to offer my thoughts in relation to the work of the Inquiry.

That item within the Terms of Reference that my submission primarily addresses is:

“Whether existing mechanisms to protect human rights in the federal context are adequate and if improvements should be made, including:

• to the remit of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights;
• the role of the Australian Human Rights Commission;
• the process of how federal institutions engage with human rights, including requirements for statements of compatibility”

It is my impression that the Australian Human Rights Commission exercises some, if not most, of its responsibilities through a lens of fashionable ‘woke’ assumptions, beliefs and ideologies, including those associated with gender feminism. I do not believe that this should be the case. I believe that the rights and the welfare of all substantial demographic groups within the Australian community should be equally and accurately acknowledged, valued and supported.

The online sources listed in this document, drafted by me unless indicated otherwise, form the bulk of my submission to the Inquiry.

Gender matters are most likely touched upon by all Commissioners, but the focus in this regard centres upon the work of the Sex Discrimination Commissioner. All those staff appointed to this position have, to date, been female – which I believe to have been inappropriate.

I think I am correct in stating that at least the last two incumbents declared themselves to be determined and committed followers of feminist ideology. I would suggest that partly as a consequence of this, during that time no significant programs were undertaken by the Commission in which the primary focus was on the rights and welfare of men and boys. I have sought to clarify this belief via requests for confirmation addressed to the Commission, an example of which is provided on the final page of this submission.

I discuss this perceived gender bias at the commission in the following blog posts:

Profound gender bias at the Australian Human Rights Commission (Part 1)

Profound gender bias at the Australian Human Rights Commission (Part 2)

I note also the Commission’s submission to this current Inquiry wherein readers undertaking a word search on the terms ‘man’ and ‘woman’ will find 0 instances of the former, and yet 22 instances of the latter.

Still, things could be worse. Consider a recent Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade paper on the global theme of gender equality. The word ‘man’ features once in this document whereas ‘woman’ features 58 times

If my observation is correct then the question must be asked as to why such a marked imbalance – a clear example of actual sex discrimination – is considered to be acceptable. Feminists appear inclined to excuse double-standards like this on the basis of an assertion that women are substantially worse off than men, and have been for much of history. I reject such a view entirely, and if the relevant government agencies were willing to undertake the appropriate reporting then the actual situation regarding the genders might finally be made clearer for all. Instead, and for the time being, the widespread occurrence of Gamma Bias and of heads deeply buried in the sand shall continue to prevail.

Chart of the Day: For Every 100 Young Women in October 2021…. and ‘Equal Pay Day’ This Year Was March 15 — the Next ‘Equal Occupational Fatality Day’ Won’t Be Until September 18, 2032. These papers by Mark J. Perry provide USA data about men. Comparative data such as this should be produced and made available in Australia. This would help correct the plethora of gender-related misstatements such as those routinely addressed by, for example, the One in Three organisation.

How men are portrayed. Haw Haw Haw. The joke’s on us

#GenderEqualityWhenItSuits: A submission to the review of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012

The ongoing erosion of research and publication standards – aka fudging the figures to support the feminist narrative

I further believe that those groups and individuals consulted by the Commission should not be filtered or excluded on the basis of the degree to which their beliefs happen to align with those of the Commissioners and their staff.

I would note that for several years now I have been blocked from accessing a social media account of the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, although not the Twitter account operated by the Commission as a corporate entity. This blocking of information sources and alternative perspectives has become a common occurrence in pro-feminist web sites and/or news outlets. I believe this behaviour to be unhelpful and inappropriate, and doubly so in the case of publicly-funded organisations. This subject, and my associated dealings with the Human Rights Commission, are addressed in the following two blog posts:

On the censorship and erasure of non-feminist perspectives and opinions

Since when did it become acceptable for publicly-funded desk jockeys to block people on social media in the absence of threats or abuse? Since now it would seem