Nine young Australians file a UN human rights climate change complaint against their federal government

Credit: Environmental Justice Australia

Nine young people from across Australia have filed a human rights complaint with the United Nation's Special Rapporteur on Climate Change against the Australian Government for failing to protect their human rights to life, health, culture and ensure a safe future in the climate crisis.

With their legal team from Environmental Justice Australia, the diverse group of young people calling themselves ‘Generation Justice’ says the Australian Government’s failure to act urgently on climate change is violating their human rights.

The Generation Justice nine say this breaches their human rights as children, people living with disabilities, First Nations people and people already impacted by climate change.

“While they drag their feet on climate action, we’re living through heat waves, bushfires, floods, and rising seas – our childhoods and futures have been stolen by their inaction,” says Maya Farmer, 19, from Sawtell in NSW, who lives in Melbourne/Naarm.

“We lost the chance to just be kids, so we’re filing this complaint with the UN to make sure we don’t lose our future too,” says Chris Black, 18, from Sydney/Eora.

“Country is always listening and keeps score and as I see climate change take hold and seeing the damage being caused to her, it is deeply painful to me,” says Zhanāe Dodd, a proud Aboriginal woman from Darumbal Country in Rockhampton.

The group includes young people with a diverse range of experiences and backgrounds, including First Nations people, people of colour and disabled and neurodivergent young people. They have witnessed terrifying disasters such as bushfires, ‘supercell’ hailstorms and drought, and have seen their country and treasured natural places damaged by climate change. Their personal stories are a wake-up call to what it’s like growing up in the age of ‘global boiling.’

The Generation Justice group says the Australian government’s lack of ambitious action on climate change is violating the human rights of young people right across Australia.

They want the UN to investigate the Australian government, provide recommendations and hold it to account for failing to protect their human rights – to life, health, culture – and ensure a safe future.

Environmental Justice Australia senior lawyer Hannah White says, “Our clients have witnessed firsthand the sweltering heat, bleached coral reefs and bushfires fuelled by climate change. They say the Australian Government is failing to comply with international obligations to protect their human rights.”

“Our clients want the Special Rapporteur to put a global spotlight on Australia’s climate inaction and pressure it to protect the rights of young Australians,” says Environmental Justice Australia senior lawyer Michaela Vaughan.

Their evidence in the complaint includes Australia’s weak climate targets, the expanding of fossil fuels and granting of billions of dollars in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry. Its current climate emissions target is consistent with a world that will warm between 2 and 3°C, not 1.5°C or below.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change is an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to assess and promote the protection of human rights in the face of climate change. As Australia has no national human rights act and no duty of care enshrined in law, this is an important avenue for these young people to seek climate justice.

The Special Rapporteur will consider the complaint and may ask the Australian government for a response. She may also visit Australia to see firsthand how climate change is affecting young people. The group hopes the Special Rapporteur will advocate for the concerns of young Australians, raise them with the government as well as before the UN Human Rights Council or General Assembly. Generation Justice hopes this complaint will push the government to take stronger action and create global pressure to cut emissions and protect young people’s futures.

For more information and updates, visit the Generation Justice website.