United Nations Third Committee: Australian statement at the General Debate
Statement delivered by H.E. Ms. Beth Delaney, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations
02 October 2026
Thank you Chair.
This year we commemorate the international human rights system we have built – while being honest about the many challenges that continue to confront it.
It was 60 years ago that the two core human rights covenants were adopted, to stand alongside the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
From the devastation of World War Two, these instruments affirmed that all humans are born free and equal, no matter who you are, where you live or your beliefs. That all human beings are born with inherent rights – and that all States have a legal obligation to respect, protect and fulfil these rights.
It was twenty years ago that the Human Rights Council was established - with additional mechanisms and tools to strengthen States’ abilities to meet their human rights obligations.
The Universal Periodic Review provides an important, member-driven opportunity for States to reflect on their progress across the full spectrum of human rights.
And the Council created strong independent investigative bodies and fact finding missions, which have played an essential role in monitoring and documenting abuses and violations of human rights worldwide.
For Australia, 2026 also marks 40 years since the establishment of the Australian Human Rights Commission. National Human Rights Institutions are a critical piece of the human rights architecture, helping to translate international commitments into a daily reality for all people.
But the challenges confronting them—and our daily lives—are changing.
New and emerging technologies, including AI, offer enormous opportunities. But they also carry significant risks for human rights. As emerging technologies develop, we must ensure there are appropriate safeguards in place.
Climate change poses another profound challenge. Every nation is affected, but our region is at the frontline. For our Pacific neighbours who have contributed the least to climate change, this is not a distant warning but a daily reality. The human rights consequences posed by climate change demand strong and decisive action from all of us.
The reach of repression is also changing. Australia is concerned by the growing use of transnational repression to harm, intimidate and silence dissidents, journalists, human rights defenders and diaspora groups. Such conduct undermines human rights, national security and State sovereignty. States must not use domestic legislation to target their human rights critics, including extraterritorially.
Alongside these modern challenges are longstanding ones.
Across the world, grave and unacceptable human rights abuses and violations persist.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine demonstrates its contempt for human rights. Australia is appalled by consistent reports of systematic torture, forced disappearances, summary executions, sexual violence and the deportation of Ukrainian children. We are disturbed by recent reports of civilians being deprived of food and medicine supplies in temporarily Russian occupied areas, including Oleshky. We reject Russia's attempts to normalise its occupation by holding sham elections on Ukrainian territory this year.
Australia condemns Iran’s brutal campaign of arbitrary arrests and the use of forced confessions, torture, and the death penalty to silence dissent and political opposition. We call on Iran to uphold the human rights of all its people, including minority groups and women and girls.
In Sudan, civilians, particularly women and children, continue to live in an intolerable situation. We are gravely concerned by the reported repeated patterns of human rights abuses committed during this conflict. Escalating violence, including widespread and systematic sexual and gender-based violence and drone strikes on essential services, are unacceptable.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban continues its ongoing, systematic campaign of oppression targeting women and girls, ethnic and religious minorities, LGBTIQIA+ persons and civil society actors. Nearly 22 million Afghans are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Australia calls on the Taliban to reverse its oppressive edicts against women and girls, respect and promote the human rights of all Afghans, and comply with Afghanistan’s obligations under international law.
It has been more than nine years since the Myanmar military launched targeted attacks against Rohingya communities in Rakhine State, causing mass displacement, widespread human rights violations and abuses, and enduring suffering. We call for an immediate cessation of violence, the release of those unjustly detained, safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and inclusive dialogue.
We remain gravely concerned by ongoing human rights violations, including forced labour, in Xinjiang and Tibet, the erosion of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, and the human rights implications of China's Ethnic Unity Law.
Consistent with international law and norms, governments should not interfere in the selection of religious leaders – including the Dalai Lama.
In the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, we are disturbed by continued reports of the regime’s brutal suppression of human rights. This includes widespread use of forced labour and gender-based violence by the state, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of those who have been forcibly repatriated, particularly women and girls. The DPRK must abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which are pursued at the expense of meeting the urgent humanitarian needs of its people.
We remain gravely concerned by the human rights situation in Gaza. We repeat calls for the protection of civilians, including aid workers, and for full, safe, rapid and unhindered humanitarian access. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of Hamas and their ongoing acts of terror and reaffirm that they must disarm and play no role in Palestine.
And in the West Bank, we are alarmed at escalating violence against civilians and the rampant advancement of illegal settlements. Australia has been clear in our opposition to the Israeli Government’s E1 settlement plan. We once again urge Israel to take immediate action to uphold human rights, end impunity for settler violence and cease illegal settlement expansion.
Chair, these situations differ in history and circumstances. But the principle at stake is the same: universal human rights must apply equally to all people, without distinction of any kind.
Australia unequivocally condemns prejudice hatred or discrimination of any kind, including antisemitism and Islamophobia – in Australia and around the world.
We will continue to press for an end to oppression of women and girls and to sexual and gender-based violence, including in Iran, the DPRK, Sudan and Afghanistan. We deplore the Taliban's sustained campaign to erase women and girls from public life. Together with Canada, Germany and the Netherlands, Australia is pursuing action to hold Afghanistan to account for violations, under the Taliban, of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
In many parts of the world, LGBTIQIA+ persons continue to face violence, discrimination and persecution, including with offences punishable by death. There can be no justification for this.
Indigenous Peoples must be able to exercise their rights globally and participate in matters that affect them. Australia welcomes the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples’ proposed country visit in November and, consistent with our ongoing approach, will engage constructively and transparently on challenges affecting First Nations Peoples.
Chair, we must defend the people who defend human rights.
Civic space is shrinking as some States seek to repress dissent and punish those that speak out or engage with UN experts and mechanisms. In 2025, some 950 human rights defenders, journalists and trade unionists were killed or forcibly disappeared worldwide – this is unacceptable.
Australia reiterates our longstanding and principled opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances for all people. It’s effects are irrevocable, and it disproportionately affects people living in poverty, people with intellectual disabilities or mental health conditions, people living with drug dependence, Indigenous Peoples, minorities, and people with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities.
No country has a perfect human rights record. But that is not a reason to lower our expectations.
We must work together to address national, regional and global human rights challenges through collective scrutiny, accountability and action – and maintain efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, grounded in human rights and the principle of leaving no one behind.
As we pursue reform through the UN80 initiative, we must engage constructively to find much needed efficiencies across the system. But efficiency is a means, not an end. We must also protect what works, strengthen what matters and ensure that human rights remain our compass to a fairer, safer and more prosperous world. This includes adequately funding the human rights functions we agree here and in Geneva, so that they are delivered.
The anniversaries we mark this year are reminders of what previous generations built. Our task is to make that promise real and ensure a better world for the generations that follow.
Thank you.