Human rights: Australia's long and unfinished journey

Human rights: Australia's long and unfinished journey

From Whitlam to the present day, Australia’s disjointed approach to the protection and promotion of human rights has persisted, write Cassandra Le Good and Professor Azadeh Dastyari. Gough Whitlam’s government made a bold and enduring statement in 1973: human rights should be protected by law, not left to convention or political discretion. By introducing Australia’s first Human Rights Bill, Whitlam laid the foundation for every serious reform e…