NOV 2023

In 2023, the world commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) – a miraculous text adopted by the United Nations. The Human Rights 75 initiative, led by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recalls the consensus imagined by the UDHR, looks to the future, and seeks to bolster the human rights ecosystem built over the past decades.

It is essential that the Human Rights 75 initiative engage youth in a meaningful way to ensure that their views, experiences, and recommendations inform the discussion concerning their rights and their future. For that reason, engagement of youth is identified as a key component of the initiative. To ensure such engagement, OHCHR has established a Youth Advisory Group (YAG) that is involved in the design, implementation, and follow-up of Human Rights 75 initiative, including the organization of a Global Youth Consultation and development of a Human Rights 75 Youth Declaration, which will be presented at the High-level event in December.

JULY 2023

Voices of Influence Australia have responded to all Terms of Reference (ToRs) of the Inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights Framework in this submission. Voices of Influence Australia has outlined considerations they recommend the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights (‘the Committee’) take into account when reviewing the issues concerned. We hope that our recommendations provide helpful context and greater insight to the Committee regarding Australia’s Human Rights Framework.

APRIL 2023

As advocates for women and girls, we recognise the critical importance of amplifying their voices and experiences. To this end, Voices of Influence Australia conducted a survey targeting young women between the ages of 15 and 35, by reaching out to our networks and utilising our social media channels.

Our goal was to capture the perspectives of young women and girls from all walks of life, who have been impacted in different ways by gender inequality. Young women and girls constitute 25.4% of Australia’s population, however, as a group they are rather underrepresented in decision-making processes due to systemic gender inequality and age-related discrimination. Youth is often equated with inexperience, leading to the marginalisation of young women’s voices in important policy and program development.

By leveraging the power of collective action and shared experience, we hope that our submission provides meaningful insight into the challenges facing young women and that those challenges are central to the careful development of the National Strategy to Achieve Gender Equality.

MARCH 2023

Voices of Influence Australia have responded to almost all Terms of Reference (ToRs) of the Inquiry into Current and Proposed Sexual Consent laws in Australia in this submission. Voices of Influence Australia has outlined considerations they recommend the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee (‘the Committee’) take into account when reviewing the issues concerned. We hope that our recommendations provide helpful context and greater insight to the Committee regarding current and proposed sexual consent laws in Australia.

NOVEMBER 2022

Voices of Influence Australia puts forward the following recomedations;

1. Make businesses who fail to address all the mandatory reporting criteria or provide false and misleading information liable to pay financial penalties and be listed on a ‘non-compliant business’ register.

2. Make entities who fail to report liable for more significant financial penalties, have them also listed on a ‘non-compliant entity’ register and be prohibited from public tenders until they are compliant.

3. Put forward additional legislative provisions that require entities to take affirmative measures to rectify and address modern slavery risks where they do not completely satisfy the criteria.

4. Expand the reporting obligations to include progress reports on previously proposed actions to ensure entities are held to account. This may also provide insight into the hurdles entities face when attempting to mitigate any modern slavery risks.

5. Reduce the reporting threshold to at least $50 million to improve consistency against existing legislation and obligations on reporting entities.

6. Impose penalties on entities who fail to fulfil their obligations under the MSA. Additionally, the appointment of an Anti-Slavery Commissioner to oversee the implantation of the MSA and to enforce the reporting obligations, modern slavery registry and to a further extent any civil penalties that may be applied in future.

JUNE 2022

Voices of Influence Australia unequivocally supports the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and its application in Australia.

Voices of Influence Australia have responded to; (1) The potential to enact the UNDRIP in Australia; (2) International experiences of enacting and enforcing the UNDRIP; (3) The Australian federal and state governments adherence to the principles of the UNDRIP; (4) The track record of Australian Government efforts to improve adherence to the principles of UNDRIP; and (5) Community and stakeholder efforts to ensure the application of UNDRIP principles in Australia.

APRIL 2022

A particular area of concern when considering the connection and correlation between violence against women and girls and climate disasters is Asia and the Pacific region ('APAC'). This is due, in part, to the severity at which APAC countries are already experiencing the impacts of environmental disasters. Additionally, the experiences of poverty, global institutions shaped by colonialism and patriarchy, and the devaluing of Indigenous knowledge further worsen the experiences and lives of women and girls in the region.

To secure a safe future for women, girls and society, responses to climate disasters, including prevention efforts, must be gender-responsive and intersectional.

Voices of Influence Australia puts forward these women-focused recommendations as divided by the three categories of Knowledge, Recognition and Resourcing, and Voice.

JANUARY 2022

The NSW Government announces the Budget each year, around mid-June. The Budget provides an overview of the state economy, outlines the NSW Government’s revenue and expenses for the coming year and details the priorities the Government will deliver.

Voices of Influence Australia have made recommendations to the NSW Treasury on the expenses, policies and priorities for the coming year in the following areas:

1. First Nations Outcomes;

2. Youth Participation and Empowerment;

3. Health Sector; and

4. Environment.

JANUARY 2022

The Ending Indefinite and Arbitrary Detention Bill 2021 establishes a legal framework governing immigration detention in Australia; provides alternatives to immigration detention; and prioritises non-citizens' immediate needs and refugee and international human rights law.

Voices of Influence Australia unequivocally supports the Ending Indefinite and Arbitrary Immigration Detention Bill 2021 in its objective to end indefinite immigration detention. Voices of Influence Australia has outlined considerations they recommend the Joint Standing Committee on Migration take into account when considering the Bill, its further amendments as well as implementation. We hope that our 13 recommendations provide helpful consultation and contribute to the large push needed to end indefinite and arbitrary immigration detention in Australia.

DECEMBER 2021

Voices of Influence Australia have made recommendations to the Australian Human Rights Commission's proposed National Anti-Racism Framework in four target areas:

1. Education.

2. Government services.

3. Healthcare.

4. Indigenous femicide.

Voices of Influence Australia emphasises that we are not the relevant authority on racism in the context of the above target areas. Accordingly, Voices of Influence Australia have provided lists within the body of this submission, of organisations that hold the relevant knowledge, expertise and lived experience, who the Australian Human Rights Commission should engage and consult as a matter of priority.

Voices of Influence Australia requests the Australian Human Rights Commission commit to the recommendations put forward in this submission when developing the national anti-racism framework.

NOVEMBER 2021

The Australian Government has sought feedback on the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 to further drive gender equality in Australia. They invited input from employers, workers, the women’s sector and non-government organisations, academics, government departments of all levels, and human rights institutions to identify areas of future focus for the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) for the next ten years to achieve gender equality and support the Respect@Work Council.

Voices of Influence Australia responded to selected parts of the Terms of Reference and made 15 recommendations, which we believe would actualise the full potential of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 and the WGEA. Our recommendations seek to promote gender equality in the workplace, improve workforce participation, and recognise the importance of equal remuneration and the ability for employees, particularly women, to be adequately supported to balance work with caring responsibilities. Specifically, Voices of Influence Australia emphasises the need for an amendment to section 10 of the Act, to mandate organisations to take affirmative action to correct gender inequalities within the workplace, as well as to provide the WGEA with broader discretionary powers to deem workplaces non-compliant.

OCTOBER 2021

On 26 August 2021 the Senate referred Australia’s Engagement in Afghanistan to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee for inquiry with an interim report 29 November 2021 and the final report by the first sitting week in February 2022.

As an organisation, Voices of Influence Australia recognise and assert the need for the voices of young people to be heard across the complexity of human rights, peace and conflict, and counter-terrorism issues – particularly in regard to the Australia’s engagement in Afghanistan.

Voices of Influence Australia responded to selected parts of the Terms of Reference and made 10 recommendations to address:

Australia's twenty-year military, diplomatic and development engagement in Afghanistan including limited successes and the costs of Australia's engagement.

How the Australian Government should respond to recent developments in Afghanistan in order to protect Australia's national security, prevent or mitigate damage to Australia's international reputation and protect Australian citizens, visa holders, and Afghan nationals who supported Australian forces, where they remain in Afghanistan.

Related matters include the critical importance of lifting the ban on the resettlement of refugees to Australia through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Indonesia (a ban which has been in place since 2014).