Australia has now joined Rwanda as the only other country to have inspections terminated by the United Nations, after the international body was denied full access to detention and mental health in-patient wards in New South Wales and Queensland.
as part of OPCAT — showed it was not serious about its obligations."I think there's no doubt that it does damage our reputation. You know, Australia wants to be a global leader when it comes to human rights, but it's really hard to take on that leadership and advocate … when we're not meeting our own international commitments."A spokesperson for federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said it deeply regretted the decision by the SPT.
The spokesperson noted the SPT had carried out successful visits to places of detention in all the jurisdictions in Australia outside of New South Wales and Queensland and had made a number of changes to address the concerns raised. "Since the SPT suspended its visit in October 2022, the Australian government has been engaging cooperatively, and in good faith, with the SPT and with all states and territories to work towards a possible resumption of the visit," the spokesperson said.
"This disappointing decision does not reflect the Australian government’s commitment to protecting and promoting human rights, and does not change our commitment to implementing Australia’s OPCAT obligations and to facilitating future visits from the SPT."A spokesperson for New South Wales Attorney-General Mark Speakman said the government had "consistently indicated" it supported OPCAT but wanted a commitment from the federal government for more funding to implement it.
"As stated in the communique from the December 2022 Standing Council of Attorneys-General, participants agreed to provide costings to the Commonwealth about anticipated funding required to set up a fully operational National Preventive Mechanism ," he said.The Queensland government has been contacted for comment.
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