Human rights and Australia's aid program

Australia's aid program supports human rights through a framework of six principles:

Human rights are a high priority for the Government. Civil and political rights are ranked equally with economic, social and cultural rights.
The aid program will continue to undertake activities that directly address specific economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights. A particular emphasis will be on the creation of durable institutional capacity to promote and protect human rights.
The emphasis will be on the practical and attainable. AusAID, as the Government's aid agency, will pursue practical aid activities in support of human rights. These activities complement and build upon high-level dialogue on human rights. Dialogue on human rights and representations about individual human rights cases will normally be carried out through diplomatic channels.
The aid program will develop activities primarily as a result of consultations and cooperation with partner countries on human rights initiatives. Regional and multilateral activities will also be undertaken.
Considerable care will continue to be applied to the use of aid sanctions associated with human rights concerns. The Government will consider such sanctions on a case-by-case basis. Aid conditionality based on human rights concerns would only be used in extreme circumstances since it can jeopardise the welfare of the poorest and it may be counterproductive.
AusAID will continue to link closely with other arms of the Australian Government on governance and human rights issues. AusAID will also liaise with NGOs and human rights organisations in Australia.

Practical action based on these principles means that the aid program continues to focus on its objective of helping developing countries reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development. These principles underpin our strong support for civil and political rights throughout our aid work. The aid program seeks to maximise the benefits for human rights in all development assistance activities.

The Government helps promote and protect human rights through supporting grass roots activities for indigenous human rights groups and building the institutional capacity of national human rights bodies. With Australian support the Asia Pacific Forum for National Human Rights Institutions has provided advice and expertise to assist with the establishment of national human rights commissions in Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia and Thailand. With this support, the number of internationally accredited national human rights institutions in the Asia Pacific has grown from four to seventeen since 1996.

From an aid perspective, development and human rights are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. For development to be sustainable, individuals in developing countries need to have secure and long-term access to the resources required to satisfy their basic needs, be they economic, social, cultural, civil or political.

At the broadest level, therefore, the whole Australian aid program contributes to the realisation of human rights. Aid activities that contribute to employment or income generation, improve public services, strengthen sustainable management of natural resources, or provide emergency and humanitarian relief in response to crises all contribute to human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights. Similarly, public sector reform and the strengthening of civil society contribute strongly to the promotion and protection of civil and political rights. This highlights the indivisibility of all human rights. The Australian aid program attaches equal priority to all of them.

The Human Rights Fund

The protection of human rights by Australia's development partners is an important element in identifying and empowering those living in extreme poverty. Fostering the promotion and protection of human rights underpins good governance and leads to sustainable and equitable growth.

The Human Rights Fund, valued at $6.5 million in 2010-11, specifically focuses on human rights programs and institutions and often complements other larger and broader interventions implemented through the bilateral, regional and NGO programs.

Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions

The Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF) seeks to strengthen the institutional capacities of, and cooperation between, existing national human rights commissions within the Asia-Pacific region, and encourage and assist governments to establish national human rights institutions. Dialogue, cooperation and mutual support between national institutions within the region is particularly important as a step in developing better mechanisms for the promotion and protection of human rights in our region. Australian government funding includes provision of regular contributions to the APF to provide secretariat services to the Forum. Apart from information dissemination and exchange, the Secretariat also supports specific country technical cooperation projects, focusing on strengthening their human rights infrastructures.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

The Australian Government supports the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in its global work on national human rights institution-building. Australia's support is directed to technical cooperation activities addressing the promotion and protection of human rights, specifically related to national institutions in the Asia-Pacific region.

Human Rights Grants Scheme (HRGS)

The Human Rights Grants Scheme (HRGS) 2011-2012 is now open.

Applications must be lodged with the relevant Australian diplomatic post by
4 pm (local time) on Friday, 14 October 2011.

More information on the Human Rights Grants Scheme

The Human Rights Grants Scheme (HRGS) is an Australian Government initiative that provides grants to organisations in developing countries to promote and protect human rights.

Grants are awarded to projects that achieve one or more of the following objectives:

prevent or end gross human rights violations
promote positive change in policies or actions of government or relevant non-state actors in the area of human rights
monitor, seek redress for and/or report on human rights violations, including supporting victims of human rights abuses
educate and/or train human rights victims, workers or defenders
promote observance and implementation of international human rights standards
promote and strengthen national or regional human rights institutions or mechanisms.

Activities funded in previous years include training workshops on investigation of human rights abuses in Indonesia, support for victims of child trafficking in Thailand, and a popular theatre program to educate poor rural communities in Bangladesh on their legal and human rights.

More information:

Other AusAID Human Rights Activities

Related websites

Last reviewed: 25 January, 2012