References & Citations
Chapter 9: A New Fourth Branch: Human Law & Medical Freedom
1. United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) <https://www.refworld.org/legal/resolution/unga/1948/en/11563>. Annotation: Articles 1, 2 (equal dignity and rights); Article 3 (right to life, liberty, security); Article 4 (freedom from slavery); Article 5 (freedom from torture); Article 6 (person before law); Articles 7–8 (equal protection & remedy); Article 9 (no arbitrary detention); Articles 10–11 (fair trial, presumption of innocence, no ex post facto); Article 12 (privacy); Article 13 (freedom of movement); Article 14(1) (right to seek asylum); Article 15 (right to nationality); Article 16 (right to marry and family); Article 17 (property); Article 18 (freedom of thought, conscience, religion); Article 19 (freedom of opinion and expression); Article 20(1) (assembly and association); Article 21 (participation in government); Article 22 (social security); Article 23 (work, fair conditions, equal pay, unions); Article 24 (rest and leisure); Article 25(1) (adequate standard of living, health); Article 25(2) (motherhood and childhood protection); Article 26 (education); Article 27(1) (participation in cultural life, science); Article 27(2) (moral and material interests of authors – intellectual property); Article 28 (social/international order for rights); Article 29 (duties to community, permissible limitations); Article 30 (no destroying rights).
2. United Nations, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) <https://www.refworld.org/legal/agreements/unga/1966/en/17703>. Annotation: Article 2(1) & 26 (non-discrimination, equal protection); Article 2(3) (effective remedy); Article 4(2) (non-derogable rights in emergencies: life, torture, slavery, no retroactivity, personhood, freedom of thought); Article 6(1) (right to life); Article 7 (freedom from torture; no medical experimentation without consent); Article 8 (no slavery; no forced labor); Article 9 (liberty and security of person; no arbitrary arrest; habeas corpus); Article 10(1) (humane treatment of detainees); Article 11 (no imprisonment for debt) – Western Australia adopts this principle (ICCPR 11); Article 14 (fair trial rights); Article 15 (no ex post facto criminal laws); Article 16 (legal personhood); Article 17 (privacy); Article 18 (freedom of thought, conscience, religion); Article 19 (freedom of expression); Article 21 (peaceful assembly); Article 22 (freedom of association, including unions); Article 23 (rights of family and marriage); Article 24(3) (child’s right to nationality); Article 25 (participation in public affairs, voting); Article 27 (minority rights). Article 20 (prohibition of war propaganda and incitement of hatred) – Western Australia will comply by narrowly outlawing incitement to violence/hostility without infringing general free speech.
3. United Nations, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) <https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/cescr.pdf>. Annotation: Article 6 (right to work); Article 7 (just and favourable work conditions; fair wages; safe and healthy working conditions; rest, leisure, reasonable limitation of working hours and holidays); Article 8 (trade union rights, right to strike); Article 9 (right to social security); Article 10 (protection of family; paid maternity leave; protection of children from exploitation); Article 11 (right to adequate standard of living; freedom from hunger); Article 12 (right to highest attainable standard of health); Article 13 (right to education); Article 14 (compulsory primary education plan); Article 15(1)(a) & (b) (participation in cultural life, benefit from scientific progress); Article 15(1)(c) (protection of authors/inventors – intellectual property). Western Australia acknowledges these as directive principles rather than enforceable rights, except IP rights which are enforceable via property rights.
4. Sophie McNeill, ‘Commission to Investigate Abuses Against Australia’s First Nations’ (Human Rights Watch, March 2021) <https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/03/10/commission-investigate-abuses-against-australias-first-nations>. Annotation: Reporting on the planned truth commission into “two centuries of violence, abuse, and discrimination” against Indigenous peoples in Australia. Highlights Australia’s ongoing legacy of colonial injustices and human rights abuses, which Western Australia explicitly repudiates as part of its founding ethos. This context justifies Western Australia’s commitment to break from Australia’s past and ensure such state-sanctioned abuses are never repeated.
5. Lydia Khalil, ‘Covid Response Has Weakened Rights’ (Lowy Institute, September 2021) <https://interactives.lowyinstitute.org/features/fortress-australia/article/civil-liberties/>. Annotation: Analysis of how Australia’s COVID-19 measures eroded civil liberties. Notes that Australia “banned its own citizens from leaving the country…raised human rights concerns from the UN” and even criminalised return from certain countries. Describes how Victorian lockdown of public housing towers violated human rights and how emergency powers became normalised, with thousands of human rights breaches identified. These real examples underpin Western Australia’s determination to place emergency powers under strict citizen oversight and to forbid travel bans or coercive mandates that characterised Australia’s approach.
6. Australian Senate, ‘COVID-19 Royal Commission Submission’ (Submission, 2022) <https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=125f079e-66ad-4109-bac0-cd4c675addee>. Annotation: Testimony from Health Practitioners confirming their suspensions from practice for speaking of possible harms from Covid-19 injectables, and lack of safety data. Confirms that Australian regulators silenced medical professionals, providing impetus for Western Australia’s Medical Freedom Act.. Also references the Medical Journal of Australia report on AHPRA overreach.
7. Wikipedia, ‘Directive Principles’ (Web Page) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directive_Principles>. Annotation: States that these principles are “not enforceable by any court, but … are considered ‘fundamental in the governance of the country’…”. This is directly invoked in Western Australia’s approach to socio-economic rights, balancing moral obligations with non-justiciability. Western Australia’s Constitution mirrors this concept, ensuring that goals like education and health guide policy without creating judicial mandates.
8. Cate Swannell, ‘Fallout Continues from AHPRA “Over-Reach”’ (2022) InSight+, Medical Journal of Australia <https://insightplus.mja.com.au/2022/29/fallout-continues-from-ahpra-over-reach/>.
9. UNESCO, Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights (2005) <https://www.unesco.org/en/legal-affairs/universal-declaration-bioethics-and-human-rights>.
10. U.S. Military Tribunal, ‘The Nuremberg Code’ (1947) <https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-nuremberg-code>.
11. Australian Human Rights Commission, Human Rights and COVID-19: A Review of Impacts (2020) <https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/rights-and-freedoms/publications/human-rights-and-covid-19-review-impacts-2020>.
12. Autonomy, The UK’s Four-Day Week Pilot: Final Results (2023) <https://www.autonomy.work/portfolio/final-results-uk-trial/>.
13. Microsoft Japan, Work-Life Choice Challenge 2019 Summer – Microsoft Japan Four-Day Work Week Trial (2019) <https://news.microsoft.com/ja-jp/2019/10/31/191031-microsoft-japan-releases-findings-on-work-life-choice-challenge-2019-summer/>.
14. J Heymann, A Raub and A Earle, ‘Creating and Using New Data Sources to Analyze the Relationship Between Social Policy and Global Health: The Case of Maternal Leave’ (2013) 5(2) World Medical & Health Policy 170 <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wmh3.24>.
15. M O’Brien and P Moss, ‘Fathers, Work and Family Policies in Europe’ in Michael E Lamb (ed), The Role of the Father in Child Development (John Wiley & Sons, 5th ed, 2010) <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265190801>.
16. B Gault, H Hartmann, A Hegewisch, J Milli and L Reichlin, Paid Parental Leave in the United States: What the Data Tell Us about Access, Usage, and Economic and Health Benefits (Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 2014) <https://iwpr.org/iwpr-publications/briefing-paper/paid-parental-leave-in-the-united-states-what-the-data-tell-us-about-access-usage-and-economic-and-health-benefits/>.
17. OECD, Is the Last Mile the Longest? Economic Gains from Gender Equality in Nordic Countries (2019) <https://www.oecd.org/publications/is-the-last-mile-the-longest-economic-gains-from-gender-equality-in-nordic-countries-9789264311959-en.htm>.
18. Commonwealth Fund, Mirror, Mirror 2021: Reflecting Poorly – Health Care in the U.S. Compared to Other High-Income Countries (2021) <https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2021/aug/mirror-mirror-2021-reflecting-poorly>.
19. UNESCO Institute for Statistics, ‘Education and the Sustainable Development Goals: Progress and Challenges’ (2020) <http://uis.unesco.org/en/news/education-and-sustainable-development-goals-progress-and-challenges>.
20. World Bank, ‘Universal Health Coverage Overview’ (2023) <https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/universalhealthcoverage/overview>.
21. UNICEF, Paid Leave and Family Support Policies: Progress, Gaps and Emerging Issues (2021) <https://www.unicef.org/reports/paid-leave-and-family-support-policies-2021>.
22. R J Petts and C Knoester, ‘Paternity Leave and Parental Relationships: Findings from the United States’ (2019) 48(2) Journal of Social Policy 349 <https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279418000326>.
23. K Parker, J M Horowitz and A Brown, ‘Americans Widely Support Paid Family and Medical Leave, but Differ Over Specific Policies’ (Pew Research Center, 2017) <https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/03/23/americans-widely-support-paid-family-and-medical-leave-but-differ-over-specific-policies/>.
24. P Moss, International Review of Leave Policies and Related Research (Institute of Education, University of London, 2011) <https://www.leavenetwork.org/annual-review-reports/>.
25. H Perera, ‘Why a Four-Day Workweek Is Good for Business – and Workers’ (World Economic Forum, 2023) <https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/02/four-day-week-productivity-happier-healthier-employees/>.
26. Australian Department of Education, ‘History of Higher Education Policy in Australia’ (2024) <https://www.education.gov.au/higher-education-policies-and-legislation/resources/history-higher-education-policy-australia>.
27. Juliet Schor et al, Four-Day Week Global Trial Results Report: UK, 2022–2023 Cohort (2023) <https://4dayweek.com/assets/downloads/UK_Feb23_Report.pdf>.
28. Australian Bureau of Statistics, ‘Employee Earnings’ (August 2024) <https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/earnings-and-working-conditions/employee-earnings/latest-release>.
29. Australian Taxation Office, ‘Simple Tax Calculator (2024-25)’ (2024) <https://www.ato.gov.au/calculators-and-tools/tax-return-simple-tax-calculator>.
30. WA Department of Treasury, ‘Wages Data’ (May 2025) <https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/department-of-treasury-and-finance/wages>.
31. SalaryAfterTax.com, ‘Australia Salary Calculator’ (2025) <https://salaryaftertax.com/salary-calculator/australia>.
32. Victorian Ombudsman, Investigation into the Detention and Treatment of Public Housing Residents Arising from a COVID-19 ‘Hard Lockdown’ in July 2020 (Report, 17 December 2020) <https://www.ombudsman.vic.gov.au/our-impact/investigation-reports/investigation-into-the-detention-and-treatment-of-public-housing-residents-arising-from-a-covid-19-hard-lockdown-in-july-2020/>. Annotation: Primary investigative report supporting claims about coercive COVID-era lockdown measures (notably the July 2020 Melbourne public housing tower lockdown) and associated rights, process, and welfare concerns.
33. Australian Human Rights Commission, ‘Travel ban and sanctions on Australians travelling from India’ (Media Release, 1 May 2021) <https://humanrights.gov.au/about-us/media-centre/search-listing-media-releases/media-releases/travel-ban-and-sanctions-australians-travelling-india>. Annotation: Authoritative Australian human rights body identifying human rights concerns with the India “travel pause”, including criminal penalties applied to citizens attempting to return.
34. United Nations Human Rights Committee, ‘CCPR General Comment No 27: Article 12 (Freedom of Movement)’ (General Comment, 2 November 1999) UN Doc CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.9 <https://docs.un.org/en/CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.9>. Annotation: Core UN interpretive authority on ICCPR freedom of movement (including proportionality/necessity limits), supporting any statement that such restrictions engage recognised international rights standards.
35. Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, Human rights scrutiny report: Report 8 of 2021 (Report, 23 June 2021) <https://www.aph.gov.au/-/media/Committees/Senate/committee/humanrights_ctte/reports/2021/Report_8/Report_8_of_2021.pdf>. Annotation: Parliamentary human-rights scrutiny analysing Biosecurity instruments (including overseas travel restrictions / India travel pause), expressly engaging rights to freedom of movement and the right to enter/return to one’s own country.
36. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Bringing Them Home: Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families (Report, 1997) <https://humanrights.gov.au/bringing-them-home/index.html>. Annotation: Canonical primary report documenting the Stolen Generations policy history, impacts, and recommendations.
37. AIATSIS, ‘Colonial Frontier Massacres in Australia, 1788–1930’ (Project Page, 31 December 2022) <https://yumi-sabe.aiatsis.gov.au/project/1932>. Annotation: Authoritative national research-project overview on frontier massacre documentation; supports carefully-framed statements about frontier violence, evidentiary methodology, and recorded massacre events.
38. University of Newcastle, ‘Colonial Frontier Massacres in Australia, 1788–1930’ (Digital Map/Project Site) <https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/>. Annotation: Primary project site for the massacre mapping dataset and methodology.
39. Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), ‘What you need to know about the COVID-19 vaccine rollout’ (Joint Statement, 9 March 2021) <https://www.ahpra.gov.au/News/2021-03-09-vaccination-statement.aspx>. Annotation: Primary regulator statement setting expectations for registered practitioners regarding COVID-19 vaccination information.
40. Medical Board of Australia, ‘False and misleading advertising on COVID-19’ (News, 31 March 2020) <https://www.medicalboard.gov.au/News/2020-03-31-false-and-misleading-advertising-on-covid-19.aspx>. Annotation: Primary board notice linking misleading COVID-19 treatment claims (especially advertising) to potential disciplinary consequences.
41. Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), ‘Social media guidance’ (Web Page) <https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Resources/Social-media-guidance.aspx>. Annotation: General regulatory guidance tying social-media conduct to the National Law, codes of conduct and advertising guidelines.