ABSTRACT
Australia, alone among the common law nations being considered, retains the singular distinction of not having any designated human rights legislation. Law in the Commonwealth of Australia is promulgated, adjudicated and administered at various levels – federal, state and territory – and is built on foundations laid down by English common law. The states and territories of Australia each have their own hierarchy of courts and tribunals with a right of appeal to a supreme court and thereafter to a federal court. Australia is a signatory nation to the Refugee Convention 1951, and as with other such nations, the case law of judicial and regulatory bodies tends to be structured in accordance with key Convention definitional terms. The Australian legislature has pioneered some developments in human rights law. The chapter concludes by reflecting on the growing significance of conscientious objection and its potential to exempt professionals — particularly in health care – from statutory public benefit service delivery duties.
