Children and Young People

Children and young people are fully entitled to their human rights.

The Queensland Human Rights Act recognises that children are entitled to special protection. It recognises that children are more vulnerable because of their age. ‘Child’ is not specifically defined in the Act, but is broadly understood to be someone under 18 years of age.

Children are entitled to all of the rights in the Human Rights Act 2019 (except in certain cases, for example the right to vote under section 23(2a)).

The right to protection of families and children means that the government should adopt special measures to protect children. It also means the best interests of the child should be taken into account in all actions affecting a child. What will be in each child’s ‘best interests’ will depend on their personal circumstances.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child has helped transform children’s lives around the world.

Listed below are a range of research papers, submissions, news articles and items of interest that provide additional information on this subject area.