Defending Dignity A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions on Monitoring Economic, Social and Cultural Rights CASE STUDY: THE CLOSE THE GAP CAMPAIGN IN AUSTRALIA Experience from Australia demonstrates the importance of provisions that require reports by the NHRI to be tabled before the parliament. This means that the reports go on the public record and, where there is open debate on their findings and recommendations, this can prompt a formal or informal response from the Government. It may be that the Government’s acceptance of the NHRI’s finding can amount to a commitment to take action which then forms a reference point against which to measure progress. This was the case with “Close the Gap”, a campaign to close the 17-year gap in life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the broader Australian community. The campaign originated with the Australian Human Rights Commission’s 2005 Social Justice Report, which recommended that the Government adopt the following targets: 25 years to achieve equality in life expectancy and ten years to achieve equal opportunity to access to primary health care and to infrastructure that supports health. Following the launch of the report, a coalition of 40 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander bodies and NGOs worked with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, located within the Commission, to develop the campaign, which culminated in the National Indigenous Health Equality Summit in March 2008. There, the Prime Minister, other government ministers and leaders of health bodies, committed to achieve equality in life expectancy by 2030 and to measure, monitor, and report on their joint efforts against a range of supporting sub-targets and benchmarks. The Indigenous Health Equality Targets were then developed through expert working groups, to be integrated into a variety of existing government monitoring frameworks. Since 2009, the Government has submitted annual reports to the parliament on its progress to “close the gap”, while the Campaign’s Steering Committee provides its own “shadow” report. This ongoing reporting process ensures regular data collection, which is used to identify successes and areas needing greater attention. These reports foster long-term accountability and have affirmed the Campaign’s gradual, but continued effectiveness. 16.5. FOLLOW UP: ENGAGING INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISMS The international human rights mechanisms provide another channel through which NHRIs can disseminate the findings of their monitoring activities and advocate for implementation of their recommendations. Independent information provided by NHRIs can carry considerable authority with these mechanisms, and can either corroborate or challenge the State’s interpretation of its performance to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. At the same time, States should, theoretically, be more receptive to international critique if it is underpinned by information gathered through an official process at the national level. 160