Australian Human Rights Commission Submission to the CEDAW Committee – 12 June 2018 1 Introduction 1. This submission is made by the Australian Human Rights Commission, an ‘A status’ national human rights institution. 2. The Commission operates under the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (Cth) (AHRC Act) and includes promoting compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). 3. The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) (SDA) gives effect to Australia’s international human rights commitments, including CEDAW, and includes as an objective the promotion of equality between men and women. The SDA protects people from discrimination on the basis of their sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, marital or relationship status, pregnancy and breastfeeding. It also protects workers with family responsibilities and makes sexual harassment against the law. 4. The Commission has the power under the AHRC Act to investigate and conciliate complaints made under the SDA by people who experience direct or indirect discrimination.1 5. The Commission welcomes the opportunity to provide a written contribution ahead of consideration of Australia’s 8th periodic report under CEDAW2 and looks forward to engaging with the Committee. 6. The Commission’s proposed recommendations are contained in the body of this submission and at Attachment 1. 2 7. Priority areas The matters addressed in this submission are all of importance to Australia’s compliance with CEDAW. However, the Commission wishes to draw the Committee’s attention to three areas of particular importance: a. The need to accelerate action to address the key issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children, including targeted prevention and early intervention initiatives to reduce violence against Indigenous women and children (section 4.1, Recommendation 3(ii)); the high rates of contact with the child protection system (section 10, Recommendation 15); and the high rates of Indigenous women in the justice system (section 10, Recommendation 15). b. The need to ensure adequate measures for the prevention of and response to sexual harassment in the workplace, with consideration of the identified strategies in the Commission’s 2012 survey report and the forthcoming outcomes of the 2018 survey, as discussed in section 4.2 (see Recommendation 4). c. The need to address existing barriers to women’s equal participation in the workforce and the gender gap in retirement savings, as discussed in section 5 (see Recommendation 9). 3