Australia’s Universal Periodic Review 2025-26
July 2025
Australia’s human rights record will face scrutiny in January 2026 when the Australian Government appears before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva for its major human rights review, called the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
The UPR provides an opportunity for Australian civil society organisations to influence the Australian Government to improve its protection and promotion of human rights. It’s also an opportunity for civil society organisations to connect, work together, set priorities, and advocate for improvements to human rights in Australia.
Community Legal Centres Australia is a member of the coordinating committee alongside the Human Rights Law Centre, Indigenous People’s Organisation-Australia, and Kingsford Legal Centre to lead the NGO Coalition report and advocacy.
The Universal Periodic Review
The UPR is a mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council which reviews the human rights records of all 193 nations that are members of the United Nations. Each country is reviewed every 4 and a half years. It’s a system of peer review: countries examine each other’s compliance with international human rights obligations.
To inform a country’s review, three reports are developed: one from the government being reviewed, one summarising input from independent UN experts and bodies, and one summarising input from civil society and national human rights institutions.
At the review session at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, any member state can comment and make recommendations on the country being reviewed. A country can also make voluntary commitments: actions it voluntarily pledges to take to improve its human rights compliance. The country then has 4 and a half years before its next review, when it should act on its commitments and recommendations to improve its human rights compliance.
Australia’s UPR and the NGO Coalition
Australia will appear at the Human Rights Council in Geneva for its review on the 26th of January 2026.
A coalition of over 100 diverse civil society organisations, experts, and community groups has worked together since late 2024 to develop the NGO coalition report to Australia’s UPR.
The NGO Coalition Report makes recommendations for steps Australia should take to improve its human rights record. The recommendations cover a broad range of human rights issues, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, refugees and asylum seekers, LGBTQIA+ people, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, children and young people, women, people with disabilities, democratic freedoms and rights, justice, climate change, workers rights, health, and people living in rural and remote communities.
The report was developed through an inclusive process involving consultation and collaboration across the NGO Coalition. It reflects grassroots knowledge about human rights in Australia and provides a point-in-time snapshot of many of the most pressing human rights issues in Australia. The report makes it clear that human rights in Australia are heading in the wrong direction.
Between now and January 2026, we have a great opportunity to advocate for the best possible outcomes from Australia’s review. One part of this advocacy is to other member states, to make sure they make the right recommendations to Australia. The other part is advocacy here in Australia, building pressure on the Australian Government to make strong voluntary commitments, and to be prepared to accept important recommendations from other member states.