Call for Input—Country Visit to Australia

Submission Date: 23 March 2026

The Law Council of Australia provided a submission to the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples (the Special Rapporteur) to inform his upcoming country visit to Australia, which is scheduled to take place from 2 to 13 November 2026.

Pursuant to his mandate established by the Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur promotes the effective protection of the rights of Indigenous Peoples worldwide. In this visit, the Special Rapporteur will seek to:Assess progress, challenges, and good practices in the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of

Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP);

Examine the legal, policy, and institutional frameworks affecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples in Australia;

Engage directly with the Government, Indigenous Peoples and their representative institutions, civil society organisations, national human rights institution, and other relevant stakeholders; and

Formulate constructive and practical recommendations aimed at strengthening the protection and realisation of Indigenous Peoples’ rights in Australia.¹

This submission assesses the implementation of First Nations Australians’ rights from the perspective of the Australian legal profession. It is set out in two parts.

Part I addresses relevant constitutional, legal, policy and institutional frameworks, including the domestic implementation of the UNDRIP and access to justice for First Nations Australians.

Part II specifically addresses contemporary rights issues in Australia, including:

• discrimination, racial hatred and vilification directed at First Nations Australians;
• the National Closing the Gap Agreement;
• justice issues, particularly in relation to child justice, over-incarceration of First Nations Australians and deaths in custody;
• safety of First Nations women and children;
• cultural heritage and Native Title; and
• impacts of climate change and environmental degradation.

The Law Council encourages the Special Rapporteur to engage directly with First Nations Australians and their organisations in his visit, including the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services and each of the State and Territory Aboriginal and Torres Strait Legal Services. Community-controlled organisations continue to demonstrate the effectiveness of self-determined and locally designed approaches to service delivery. Partnership models, co-design processes and truth-telling and healing initiatives also provide valuable insights into how systems can meaningfully support self-determination when properly structured and resourced.

The Law Council also encourages the Special Rapporteur to consider and monitor relevant international developments in advance of his visit, which may also inform the formulation of his recommendations to further strengthen the protection and realisation of First Nations rights in Australia. The Australian Government is currently preparing its draft 21st and 22nd periodic reports to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, having last reported to that Committee a decade ago.2 Various communications regarding First Nations Australians have been lodged with United Nations (UN) human rights treaty bodies, and are referred throughout this submission.

The Law Council regularly highlights issues affecting First Nations Australians through its engagement with international processes, including recently in:

• its submission to Australia’s current Fourth Cycle Universal Periodic Review, which highlighted the crisis state of Australia’s child justice system and the over-incarceration of First Nations Australians as among the most pertinent current human rights and rule of law issues in Australia;³
• a statement as part of the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur at the 60th session of the UN Human Rights Council;⁴ and
• its submission to Australia’s sixth review before the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.⁵ That Committee has since issued its Concluding Observations concerning Australia’s implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, including in relation to First Nations Australians, which are referred to throughout this submission.⁶

For the purposes of this submission, we have used the term “First Nations” to refer to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

^{1 Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, “Call for Input: Country Visit to Australia”, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Web Page, February 2026) <https://www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for-input/2026/call-input-country-visit-australia>.
2 Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, “Reporting under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination” (Web Page, 2025) <https://www.dfat.gov.au/about-us/publications/reporting-under-the-international-convention-on-the-elimination-of-all-forms-of-racial-discrimination>.
3 Law Council of Australia, Submission to the Fourth Cycle Universal Periodic Review of Australia, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (16 July 2025) <https://lawcouncil.au/publicassets/6bba6d3e-ef68-f011-94b7-005056be13b5/4693%20-%20S%20-%20AUS%20Universal%20Periodic%20Review%20-%204th%20Cycle.pdf>.
4 Law Council of Australia, “Oral Statement in the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples” (24 September 2025) <https://lawcouncil.au/publicassets/c9ed3db4-d89c-f011-94be-005056acd090/2025%2009%2012%20_%20SP%20_%20HRC%2060%20Report%20of%20Special%20Rapporteur%20on%20the%20Human%20Rights%20of%20Indigenous%20Peoples.pdf?caed3db4-d89c-f011-94be-005056acd090>.
5 Law Council of Australia, “Australia’s Sixth Periodic Report: Parallel Report” (9 January 2026) <https://lawcouncil.au/publicassets/8a8032b7-39fb-f011-94c3-005056acd090/4778%20-%20S%20-%20CESCR%20-%20Law%20Council%20Parallel%20Report%20%20Australia.pdf>.
6 United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of Australia, UN Doc E/C.12/AUS/CO/6 (25 February 2026) <https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=2762&Lang=en>.}

Last Updated on 17/04/2026

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