Law Council Supports Australian Resolve to Protect Human Rights of Older Persons
1 May 2025
On 3 April 2025, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution to proceed with an intergovernmental process to draft a treaty on the human rights of older people.
The Law Council has long supported the adoption of a Convention on the Rights of Older Persons, including in the Royal Commission context, and looks forward to participating in the drafting discussions to follow.
Australia was a pioneer in protecting older people’s rights from discrimination with the passage of the Age Discrimination Act 2004 (Cth). However, human rights are much more than just anti-discrimination, and twenty years on there is still much work to do to prevent neglect and mistreatment of older persons in this country. This was amply demonstrated by report of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Royal Commission. A Convention would guide governments in the development of more comprehensive laws to protect older persons in all situations of later life.
Advocates of older persons’ rights, including groups such as the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older Persons and the Older Persons Advocacy Network in Australia, have also been pursuing such a treaty for many years, and the Law Council was pleased to see this high-level recognition of their efforts. In particular, we were pleased to see that Australia was among the co-sponsors of the resolution.
Last Updated on 01/05/2025