{"id":"F2009B00174","name":"Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986 - Declaration on the Elimination of all forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination based on Religion or Belief","slug":"human-rights-and-equal-opportunity-commission-act-1986-declaration-on-the-elimination-of-all-forms-o","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":121589,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2009B00174-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986 - Declaration on the Elimination of all forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination based on Religion or Belief","content":"Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief\n\nProclaimed by General Assembly of the United Nations on 25 November 1981 (resolution 36/55)\n\nThe General Assembly,\n\nConsidering that one of the basic principles of the Charter of the United Nations is that of the dignity and equality inherent in all human beings, and that all Member States have pledged themselves to take joint and separate action in co-operation with the Organization to promote and encourage universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion,\n\nConsidering that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenants on Human Rights proclaim the principles of non\\-discrimination and equality before the law and the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief,\n\nConsidering that the disregard and infringement of human rights and fundamental freedoms, in particular of the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or whatever belief, have brought, directly or indirectly, wars and great suffering to mankind, especially where they serve as a means of foreign interference in the internal affairs of other States and amount to kindling hatred between peoples and nations,\n\nConsidering that religion or belief, for anyone who professes either, is one of the fundamental elements in his conception of life and that freedom of religion or belief should be fully respected and guaranteed,\n\nConsidering that it is essential to promote understanding, tolerance and respect in matters relating to freedom of religion and belief and to ensure that the use of religion or belief for ends inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations, other relevant instruments of the United Nations and the purposes and principles of the present Declaration is inadmissible,\n\nConvinced that freedom of religion and belief should also contribute to the attainment of the goals of world peace, social justice and friendship among peoples and to the elimination of ideologies or practices of colonialism and racial discrimination,\n\nNoting with satisfaction the adoption of several, and the coming into force of some, conventions, under the aegis of the United Nations and of the specialized agencies, for the elimination of various forms of discrimination,\n\nConcerned by manifestations of intolerance and by the existence of discrimination in matters of religion or belief still in evidence in some areas of the world,\n\nResolved to adopt all necessary measures for the speedy elimination of such intolerance in all its forms and manifestations and to prevent and combat discrimination on the ground of religion or belief,\n\nProclaims this Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief:\n\nArticle 1\n\n1.  Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have a religion or whatever belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.\n\n2. No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have a religion or belief of his choice.\n\n3. Freedom to manifest one's religion or belief may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.\n\nArticle 2\n\n1.  No one shall be subject to discrimination by any State, institution, group of persons, or person on the grounds of religion or other belief.\n\n2. For the purposes of the present Declaration, the expression \"intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief\" means any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on religion or belief and having as its purpose or as its effect nullification or impairment of the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal basis.\n\nArticle 3\n\nDiscrimination between human being on the grounds of religion or belief constitutes an affront to human dignity and a disavowal of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and shall be condemned as a violation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and enunciated in detail in the International Covenants on Human Rights, and as an obstacle to friendly and peaceful relations between nations.\n\nArticle 4\n\n1.  All States shall take effective measures to prevent and eliminate discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief in the recognition, exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms in all fields of civil, economic, political, social and cultural life.\n\n2. All States shall make all efforts to enact or rescind legislation where necessary to prohibit any such discrimination, and to take all appropriate measures to combat intolerance on the grounds of religion or other beliefs in this matter.\n\nArticle 5\n\n1.  The parents or, as the case may be, the legal guardians of the child have the right to organize the life within the family in accordance with their religion or belief and bearing in mind the moral education in which they believe the child should be brought up.\n\n2. Every child shall enjoy the right to have access to education in the matter of religion or belief in accordance with the wishes of his parents or, as the case may be, legal guardians, and shall not be compelled to receive teaching on religion or belief against the wishes of his parents or legal guardians, the best interests of the child being the guiding principle.\n\n3. The child shall be protected from any form of discrimination on the ground of religion or belief. He shall be brought up in a spirit of understanding, tolerance, friendship among peoples, peace and universal brotherhood, respect for freedom of religion or belief of others, and in full consciousness that his energy and talents should be devoted to the service of his fellow men.\n\n4. In the case of a child who is not under the care either of his parents or of legal guardians, due account shall be taken of their expressed wishes or of any other proof of their wishes in the matter of religion or belief, the best interests of the child being the guiding principle.\n\n5. Practices of a religion or belief in which a child is brought up must not be injurious to his physical or mental health or to his full development, taking into account article 1, paragraph 3, of the present Declaration.\n\nArticle 6\n\nIn accordance with article I of the present Declaration, and subject to the provisions of article 1, paragraph 3, the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief shall include, inter alia, the following freedoms:\n\n(a) To worship or assemble in connection with a religion or belief, and to establish and maintain places for these purposes;\n\n(b) To establish and maintain appropriate charitable or humanitarian institutions;\n\n(c) To make, acquire and use to an adequate extent the necessary articles and materials related to the rites or customs of a religion or belief;\n\n(d) To write, issue and disseminate relevant publications in these areas;\n\n(e) To teach a religion or belief in places suitable for these purposes;\n\n(f) To solicit and receive voluntary financial and other contributions from individuals and institutions;\n\n(g) To train, appoint, elect or designate by succession appropriate leaders called for by the requirements and standards of any religion or belief;\n\n(h) To observe days of rest and to celebrate holidays and ceremonies in accordance with the precepts of one's religion or belief;\n\n(i) To establish and maintain communications with individuals and communities in matters of religion and belief at the national and international levels.\n\nArticle 7\n\nThe rights and freedoms set forth in the present Declaration shall be accorded in national legislation in such a manner that everyone shall be able to avail himself of such rights and freedoms in practice.\n\nArticle 8\n\nNothing in the present Declaration shall be construed as restricting or derogating from any right defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenants on Human Rights.\n\n  \n78. Miss WELLS (Australia), explaining her delegation’s position, said that Australia had been pleased to join in the adoption by consensus of the draft declaration contained in document A/C.3/36/L.45. It unreservedly upheld the principles of the declaration in all the legislation and practices applied in the various jurisdictions of the country, and it felt that the declaration just adopted came within the context of the obligations imposed by article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.\n\n79. Australia was a country of Christian origin, a fact reflected in certain observances, such as the observance of Sunday as a day of rest. However, the rights of all those who practised any other religion or held non-Christian beliefs were equally respected.\n\nCOMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA\n\nHuman Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986\n\nDECLARATION\n\nI, MICHAEL JOHN DUFFY, Attorney-General, after consulting the appropriate Minister of each State, under subsection 47(1) of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986, declare that the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 25 November 1981 (resolution 36/55), being a declaration that has been adopted by Australia, is an international instrument relating to human rights and freedoms for the purposes of that Act.\n\nDated 8th February 1993.\n\nMichael Duffy\n\nAttorney-General\n\n\\[NOTE: This Declaration commences on the date on which a copy of each of the United Nations Convention, a copy of Australia’s instrument of ratification of the United nations Convention, and this Declaration, are published in the Gazette or, if those copies are published in the gazette on different dates, on the later or latest of those dates; see paragraph 47 (2) (b) of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986.\\]","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a straightforward scheduling instrument that performs exactly the function intended by section 47 of the parent Act. It does not expand or alter the scope of the 1986 legislation; it merely activates the Act's existing framework for a specific UN human rights instrument. The scope remains limited to conferring investigatory and conciliation powers on the Human Rights Commission regarding religious discrimination and intolerance."},"complexity_factors":["The document is primarily a declaratory instrument (a formal announcement) rather than operative legislation with substantive rules","Contains the full text of the UN Declaration (8 articles) which uses broad, aspirational language rather than precise legal definitions","Only one operative legal mechanism: the declaration under section 47(1) of the parent Act","Cross-reference to section 47 of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986, which triggers the Commission's inquiry and complaint functions","Minimal conditional logic - essentially a single trigger ('after consulting the appropriate Minister of each State')","No defined terms section - relies on the parent Act's definitions and the UN Declaration's own terminology"],"plain_english_summary":"This declaration schedules the UN’s 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief as an “international instrument” under the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986. That gives the Australian Human Rights Commission formal authority to receive, investigate and report on complaints about religious freedom and discrimination, affecting people, employers and government bodies in Australia by bringing international standards into domestic complaint-handling."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The instrument does not alter the substantive content of the UN Declaration. It formally designates that Declaration as an \"international instrument relating to human rights and freedoms\" for the purposes of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986 (see the Attorney‑General's declaration under subsection 47(1)). The declaration's commencement is subject to Gazette publication per paragraph 47(2)(b); no new rights or obligations are created by this administrative recognition alone."},"complexity_factors":["Single administrative declaration made under subsection 47(1) of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986 (declaring the UN text an \"international instrument\").","Commencement is conditional on publication in the Gazette as described (see paragraph 47(2)(b) cited in the instrument's note), creating a timing dependency for when the recognition takes effect.","The declared material is a multi‑article UN Declaration (Articles 1–8) covering broad norms on freedom of thought, religion and non‑discrimination, which raises interpretive breadth.","The declaration itself contains no domestic implementation or enforcement steps; it is recognitional, so questions may remain about how the Commission or courts will weight or apply the Declaration alongside existing Australian law.","Potential interaction with existing statutory and common‑law rights means the practical effect depends on how decision‑makers adopt the Declaration in specific cases rather than on new statutory obligations."],"plain_english_summary":"**What it does:** The Attorney‑General declared that the United Nations \"Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief\" (1981) is an \"international instrument relating to human rights and freedoms\" for the purposes of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986. \n\n**Who it affects and why it matters:** This formal recognition brings that UN Declaration into the set of instruments the Act refers to, so the Commission and others exercising the Act may take its text into account when dealing with religion‑or‑belief issues."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/human-rights-and-equal-opportunity-commission-act-1986-declaration-on-the-elimination-of-all-forms-o","history":"/api/acts/human-rights-and-equal-opportunity-commission-act-1986-declaration-on-the-elimination-of-all-forms-o/history","analysis":"/api/acts/human-rights-and-equal-opportunity-commission-act-1986-declaration-on-the-elimination-of-all-forms-o/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/human-rights-and-equal-opportunity-commission-act-1986-declaration-on-the-elimination-of-all-forms-o/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/human-rights-and-equal-opportunity-commission-act-1986-declaration-on-the-elimination-of-all-forms-o/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/human-rights-and-equal-opportunity-commission-act-1986-declaration-on-the-elimination-of-all-forms-o/documents"}}