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Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing
Official Country Visit to Australia August 2006, including Victoria 11 - 13 August
In July - August 2006 the United Nations Special Rapporteur visited Australia on an official mission to assess the situation of the right to adequate housing. He visited communities, civil society groups, State and Federal Government Officials and parliamentarians in most Australian States.
He has subsequently released his preliminary observations which note the hidden housing crisis in Australian and the humanitarian disaster housing poses in indigenous communities.
In his preliminary observations, the Special Rapporteur issued several recommendations, including:
- A human right to adequate housing approach with the primary task of meeting the needs of the most vulnerable should be adopted. The principles of non-discrimination, gender equality and indivisibility of human rights need to be rigorously applied.
- A national housing policy based on human rights should be put into place. Given the critical importance of housing in the lives of Australians, the Government at the Federal level may wish to consider having a Ministry with a portfolio solely on housing; and
- Addressing Homelessness and its causes should be listed as a priority for the Government; and
- The Special Rapporteur suggests that Indigenous Peoples are given a genuine participatory role in their affairs, through an independent, well-resourced, national body or an organ representing all communities. This constitutes the only way to achieve the required social goals, especially in the area of housing and land rights; and
- He recommends the Australian Government to urgently address what can be considered as a humanitarian tragedy of the lack of housing and civic services areas belonging to Indigenous Peoples.
The final report on this visit will be presented to the Human Rights Council in mid 2007. The HPLC Coordinator, Kristen Hilton will meet once again with the Special Rapporteur to discuss his findings and solutions for the 'housing crisis'.
Click here to view the preliminary report.
Urgent Communication to the UN Special Rapporteur for Adequate Housing:
Click here to view a report by the PILCH Homeless Persons' Legal Clinic and the Human Rights Law Resource Centre in relation to the Right to Adequate Housing and the situation on the ground in Australia.
The report contains current information from a number of housing and homelessness organisations as well as direct insights from homeless people across Australia. It seeks to further assist and inform the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing in his final country report on Australia. The Special Rapporteur conducted an official country visit of Australia in August this year and early in 2007 will present his findings to the UN Human Rights Council and the Australian Government.
The report is also addressed to the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, the Independent Expert on the Right to be Free from Extreme Poverty, the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women and the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous People. The report elucidates the practical implications of the violations of housing rights and the impact that this has on other human rights. It is hoped that the information contained in the report will prompt independent investigations into these areas.
   
   
Special thanks to Helen Fletcher for photography.
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