The United Nations Human Rights Office of the Commissioner has put out a report on the right to adequate housing.
The Australian Government has installed a 'housing crisis' on the good people of Australia, where there is not enough housing for Australian citizens as a result of the government's policy to over import immigrants into the colony.
The Australian government is in breach of the human right to adequate housing.
So what are Australia's so called top legal minds/law firms, doing about it?
Why nothing of course, as they are protecting their brethren in government and of course 'the economy'.
Australia is a 'member state' of the United Nations since the 1st of November 1945.
The Office Of The High Commissioner states the following on the human right to adequate housing:
Housing is the basis of stability and security for an individual or
family. The centre of our social, emotional and sometimes economic
lives, a home should be a sanctuary—a place to live in peace, security
and dignity.
Housing is a right, not a commodity
Manhattan - New York
Increasingly viewed as a commodity, housing is most importantly a human right. Under international law, to be adequately housed means having secure tenure—not having to worry about being evicted
or having your home or lands taken away. It means living somewhere that
is in keeping with your culture, and having access to appropriate
services, schools, and employment.
Too often violations of the right to housing occur with impunity.
In part, this is because, at the domestic level, housing is rarely
treated as a human right. The key to ensuring adequate housing is the
implementation of this human right through appropriate government policy
and programmes, including national housing strategies.
Evictions and displacement
Climate change, natural disasters and armed conflict
pose a threat to the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing and
displace every year millions. Infrastructure development, hydro-power
dams, and mega-events,
such as Olympic Games or football World Cups, should contribute to the
realization of the right to adequate housing and not undermine it.
Housing and real estate markets worldwide have been transformed by
global capital markets and financial excess. Known as the
financialization of housing, the phenomenon occurs when housing is
treated as a commodity – a vehicle for wealth and investment rather than
a social good.
Equality and non-discrimination
While revenues from real estate have accumulated, our cities have become increasingly unaffordable. In many countries women, religious and ethnic minorities, indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, migrants and refugees
face discrimination in relation to housing or live in the most
appalling conditions. Spatial segregation excludes many residents from
equal access to public services, education, transportation and other
opportunities. Local Governments
are often at the forefront of the struggle for housing and can play a
key role in protecting and realizing the right to adequate housing.
Homelessness and informal settlements
More than 1.8 billion people live in informal settlements
or inadequate housing with limited access to essential services such as
water and sanitation, electricity and are often under threat of forced
eviction. And one of the most severe violations of the right to adequate
housing—homelessness—has been on a steep increase in many economically advanced countries.
Building back better
The COVID-19 pandemic
has underscored the need for everyone to have a safe home to shelter.
The economic crisis that followed will see many people unable to pay
their rent or mortgage. National, regional and local governments need to
prevent a new disastrous wave of evictions and urgently address
discriminatory patterns of social exclusion in the enjoyment of the
right to adequate housing. Only together we can ensure that nobody will
be left behind.
The right to adequate housing in human rights law
Adequate housing was recognized as part of the right to an adequate standard of living in article 25 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in article 11.1 of the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Other international human rights treaties have since recognized or
referred to the right to adequate housing or some elements of it, such
as the protection of one’s home and privacy.
The right to adequate housing is relevant to all States, as they have
all ratified at least one international treaty referring to adequate
housing and committed themselves to protecting the right to adequate
housing through international declarations, plans of action or
conference outcome documents. Various international treaties and
declarations referring to the right to adequate housing are available at
the following link.
The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
has underlined that the right to adequate housing should not be
interpreted narrowly. Rather, it should be seen as the right to live
somewhere in security, peace and dignity. The characteristics of the
right to adequate housing are clarified mainly in the Committee’s
general comments No. 4 (1991) on the right to adequate housing and No. 7 (1997) on forced evictions.
The right to adequate housing contains freedoms.
These freedoms include:
- Protection against forced evictions and the arbitrary destruction and demolition of one’s home;
- The right to be free from arbitrary interference with one’s home, privacy and family; and
- The right to choose one’s residence, to determine where to live and to freedom of movement.
The right to adequate housing contains entitlements.
These entitlements include:
- Security of tenure;
- Housing, land and property restitution;
- Equal and non-discriminatory access to adequate housing; and
- Participation in housing-related decision-making at the national and community levels.
Key elements of the right to adequate housing
Adequate housing must provide more than four walls and a roof. A
number of conditions must be met before particular forms of shelter can
be considered to constitute “adequate housing.” These elements are just
as fundamental as the basic supply and availability of housing. For
housing to be adequate, it must, at a minimum, meet the following
criteria:
- Security of tenure: Housing is not adequate if its
occupants do not have a degree of tenure security which guarantees legal
protection against forced evictions, harassment and other threats.
- Availability of services, materials, facilities and
infrastructure: Housing is not adequate if its occupants do not have
safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, energy for cooking, heating,
lighting, food storage or refuse disposal.
- Affordability: Housing is not adequate if its cost threatens or compromises the occupants’ enjoyment of other human rights.
- Habitability: Housing is not adequate if it does
not guarantee physical safety or provide adequate space, as well as
protection against the cold, damp, heat, rain, wind, other threats to
health and structural hazards.
- Accessibility: Housing is not adequate if the specific needs of disadvantaged and marginalized groups are not taken into account.
- Location: Housing is not adequate if it is cut off
from employment opportunities, health-care services, schools, childcare
centres and other social facilities, or if located in polluted or
dangerous areas.
- Cultural adequacy: Housing is not adequate if it does not respect and take into account the expression of cultural identity.
See the OCCHR Fact Sheet on the right to adequate housing:
