Children’s Rights in Relation to the Digital Environment
The submission to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) regarding its consultation on a proposed General Comment entitled ‘Children’s rights in relation to the digital environment’ was prepared by the Law Council.
The Law Council is grateful for the assistance of its Family Law Section and the Law Society of New South Wales in the preparation of this submission.
The Law Council takes this opportunity to outline live issues in the Australian context with respect to children’s rights in the digital environment, which may help to inform the UNCRC’s General Comment. The submission addresses issues relevant to the key groups of rights raised in the UNCRC’s Concept Note, and answers questions posed about the obligations and role of States and businesses.
Where relevant, the Law Council draws upon its Justice Project Final Report findings. The Justice Project was a comprehensive national review into the state of access to justice in Australia focusing on groups experiencing significant disadvantage, released in August 2018.
Relevant chapters include those on Children and Young People and Legal Services. The Law Council also draws upon a number of its previous submissions on children’s rights and technology, including its:
- submission to the Australian Human Rights Commission regarding its consultation on Human Rights and Technology;
- Alternative Report to the UNCRC regarding Australia’s implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
- submission regarding the adequacy of existing Commonwealth, state and territory offences to capture cyberbullying;
- submission regarding the My Health Records Amendment (Strengthening Privacy) Bill 2018; and
- submission into options for addressing the issue of sexting by minors.
You can read the full submission below.