Statement 113 - Australian Permanent Mission and Consulate-General

Australian Permanent Mission and Consulate-General

Geneva, Switzerland

Address: Chemin des Fins 2, Case Postale 102, 1211 Geneva 19 - Telephone: 022 799 9100 - Fax: 022 799 9178

Human Rights Council – 14th Regular Session

Special Representative of the Secretary General on Human Rights andTransnational Corporations and the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education

We thank the Special Rapporteur for his progress report on operationalising and promoting the “protect, respect and remedy” framework. We also welcome the recent extension of the Rapporteur’s mandate.

Australia commends the Rapporteur for the extensive consultations conducted to ensure the best outcome for his mandate, and for the continued inclusion of all actors, including States, businesses, affected individuals and communities, civil society and international institutions.

Australia notes with interest the five priority areas identified by the Special Rapporteur through which States should strive to achieve greater policy coherence. Australia is interested in hearing more about the third priority area “Fostering rights-respecting corporate cultures”. We note the Rapporteur recommends States identify human rights-related risks as a factor in determining “materiality” under financial reporting requirements. Could the Rapporteur, or States, comment on corporate reactions to the requirements, where they have been implemented.

Australia welcomes the report by the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, which recognises the diverse educational needs of new migrants.

We were particularly interested in the Rapporteur’s comments on educational strategies that strengthen the capabilities of marginalised communities. Australia has introduced a number of such programs, primarily in the area of language acquisition. These programs include free English language tuition which combines English language tuition on settlement and life skill topics, employment focused courses which assists migrants to learn vocational-specific English while gaining familiarity with Australian workplace culture and practices, literacy tutoring to assist adolescent refugees’ engagement in formal education, and assistance towards the cost of intensive English tuition to improve access to the Australian education system. We are interested in the Rapporteurs views on how States can continue to share best practice in this area.

Recognising the importance of education in creating opportunities, Australia believes that the education curriculum should set challenging standards for all students to ensure that ‘demography does not become destiny’. This was an important consideration during the development of the National Australian Curriculum, to be introduced from 2011. The national curriculum sets a high standard for students, whilst maintaining flexibility and adaptability to meet the needs of all students, including migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. We are interested in hearing the Rapporteurs views on the role of education in creating opportunities for migrants and their families.