Protecting all human rights is essentialbecause they are interconnected. For example, where poverty exists, many other human rights are not accessable.

While all rights are important, a number of rights are not well protected in Australia, leaving many people at risk.

• Civil and political rights
• Discrimination on the basis of religion or belief
• Education
• Access to health services
• Indigenous issues: the right to self-determination
• People with a disability - physical or mental
• Environment
• Housing
• Women
• People with a mental illness
• Prisoners
• Young people and children
• Fair conditions at work
• Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights
• Refugees and asylum seekers
• The elderly.

Fact sheets on these human rights can be found at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre or the Australian Human Rights Commission.

The National Consultation on Rights Report (Recommendation 22) highlighted that priority should be given to the following:

• the right to an adequate standard of living—including adequate food, clothing and housing
• the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
• the right to education.

Contact fairgo@justrightsqld.org for more information.