What are Human Rights?

Every person has dignity and value. One of the ways that we recognise the fundamental worth of every
person is by acknowledging and respecting their human rights.

Human rights are a set of principles concerned with equality and fairness. They recognise our freedom
to make choices about our lives and to develop our potential as human beings. They are about living a
life free from fear, harassment or discrimination.

Human rights can broadly be defined as a number of basic rights that people from around the world
have agreed are essential. These include the right to life, the right to a fair trial, freedom from torture
and other cruel and inhuman treatment, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the rights to
health, education and an adequate standard of living.

These human rights are the same for all people everywhere – men and women, young and old, rich and
poor, regardless of our background, where we live, what we think or what we believe. This is what
makes human rights ‘universal’.

Who has a responsibility to protect human rights?

Human rights connect us to each other through a shared set of rights and responsibilities.

A person’s ability to enjoy their human rights depends on other people respecting those rights. This
means that human rights involve responsibility and duties towards other people and the community.
Individuals have a responsibility to ensure that they exercise their rights with consideration for the rights
of others. For example, when someone uses their right to freedom of speech, they should do so without
interfering with someone else’s right to privacy.

Governments have a particular responsibility to ensure that people are able to enjoy their rights. They
are required to establish and maintain laws and services that enable people to enjoy a life in which their
rights are respected and protected.

For example, the right to education says that everyone is entitled to a good education. This means that
governments have an obligation to provide good quality education facilities and services to their people.
Whether or not governments actually do this, it is generally accepted that this is the government's
responsibility and people can call them to account if they fail to respect or protect their basic human
rights.

What do human rights cover?

Human rights cover virtually every area of human activity.

They also include economic, social and cultural rights, which relate to a person’s rights to prosper and
grow and to take part in social and cultural activities. This group includes rights such as the right to
health, the right to education and the right to work.

One of the main differences between these two groups of rights is that, in the case of civil and political
rights, governments must make sure that they, or any other group, are not denying people access to
their rights, whereas in relation to economic, social and cultural rights, governments must take active
steps to ensure rights are being fulfilled.

As well as belonging to every individual, there are some rights that also belong to groups of people. This
is often in recognition of the fact that these groups have been disadvantaged and marginalised
throughout history and consequently need greater protection of their rights. These rights are
called collective rights. For example, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples possess collective
rights to their ancestral lands, which are known as native title rights.

Rights that can only apply to individuals, for example the right to a fair trial, are called individual rights.

Where do human rights come from?

The origins of human rights

Human rights are not a recent invention.

Throughout history, concepts of ethical behaviour, justice and human dignity have been important in
the development of human societies. These ideas can be traced back to the ancient civilisations of
Babylon, China and India. They contributed to the laws of Greek and Roman society and are central to
Buddhist, Christian, Confucian, Hindu, Islamic and Jewish teachings.
Concepts of ethics, justice and dignity were also important in societies which have not left written
records, but consist of oral histories such as those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in
Australia and other indigenous societies elsewhere.

Ideas about justice were prominent in the thinking of philosophers in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance
and the Enlightenment. An important strand in this thinking was that there was a 'natural law' that
stood above the law of rulers. This meant that individuals had certain rights simply because they were
human beings.

In 1215, the English barons forced the King of England to sign Magna Carta (which is Latin for ‘the Great
Charter’). Magna Carta was the first document to place limits on the absolute power of the king and
make him accountable to his subjects. It also laid out some basic rights for the protection of citizens,
such as the right to a trial.

Significant development in thinking about human rights took place in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, during a time of revolution and emerging national identities.

The American Declaration of Independence (1776) was based on the understanding that certain rights,
such as ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness', were fundamental to all people. Similarly, the French
Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (1789) challenged the authority of the aristocracy and
recognised the ‘liberty, equality and fraternity' of individuals. These values were also echoed in the
United States’ Bill of Rights (1791), which recognised freedom of speech, religion and the press, as well
as the right to ‘peaceable' assembly, private property and a fair trial.