Rights and freedoms
Convention on the Rights of the Child
17 December 1990
Australia agrees to protect children’s rights by ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Four months after it came into force, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified by Australia. From this point, Australia has had a legal duty to ensure all Australian children have the economic, social, civil and political rights set out in the Convention.
The Convention has been signed by most countries in the world. The Convention states all children have the right to live and grow, for their best interests to be the primary consideration in all decisions concerning them and to be free from discrimination. Australia has also ratified protocols to the Convention to protect against the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and the involvement of children in armed conflicts.