Australia appeared before the UN CEDAW Committee on 20 July at the UN Headquarters in New York. You can view Australia’s Opening Statement to the CEDAW Committee here. The CEDAW Committee also met with Ms Elizabeth Broderick, Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner and representatives from Australian non-government women’s organisations on 19 July 2010 to discuss their perspectives in advance of Australia’s appearance.
Following Australia’s appearance, the CEDAW Committee issued a number of recommendations outlining how Australia could better meet its obligations under CEDAW. The CEDAW Committee has identified the two most pressing issues facing Australia in the field of sex discrimination as violence against women and the disadvantages faced by Indigenous women. The Committee has asked that Australia provide a special follow-up report on both these issues by July 2012. The full list of ‘Concluding Observations’ is available here.
