A major international human rights group has slammed Australian governments, state and federal, for their failure to uphold the rights of First Nations people in its 2023 World Report.

Human Rights Watch highlighted Indigenous youth incarceration among a number of areas of grave concerns in Australia in the report released this week.

The 712-page World Report 2023 reviews human rights practices in almost 100 countries.

The group’s acting Executive Director Tirana Hassan wrote in the report’s introduction that it is no longer possible to rely on “a small group of mostly Global North governments” to defend human rights.

“The responsibility is on individual countries, big and small, to apply a human rights framework to their policies, and then work together to protect and promote human rights.”

The report noted "Following Anthony Albanese’s election as prime minister, Australia’s first change of government in nine years led to some improvement in human rights, including more ambitious greenhouse gas emission targets to address climate change. However, many rights concerns remain, such as the significant overrepresentation of First Nations people in the criminal justice system and mandatory offshore processing and “turn-backs” of asylum seekers who arrive by boat."

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