The APT welcomes the Australian government’s decision to ratify the OPCAT by the end of the year. We would also like to extend our thanks to the Australian Human Rights Commission for inviting submissions from NGOs and other parties.
The AHRC consultation asks a number of specific questions in relation to both the structure and functioning of an OPCAT system in Australia, as well as in relation to the existing monitoring framework and priority areas. Given that a number of national NGOs are likely to provide substantive input on the second category of question, the APT will limit itself in this submission to the first category – the structure and functioning of the NPM system – both areas of our established experience worldwide.
