Castan Centre for Human Rights Law: A Decadeof Human Rights Training in Australia and Asia

Andre Dao and Adam McBethT

he Castan Centre for Human Rights Law seeks to promoteand protect human rights through the generation and dissemination of public scholarship in international and domestic humanrights law.
In pursuit of this mission, the Centre brings the work of human rights
scholars, practitioners and advocates from a wide range of disciplines
together in the Centre’s key activities of research, teaching, public education(lectures, seminars, conferences, speeches, media presentations, etc.),
applied research, advice work and consultancies.
The Castan Centre is named after Ron Castan am qc (1939-1999), who
was a passionate advocate for the recognition and protection of humanrights and a distinguished member of the Victorian Bar.
Since being established in 2000, the Castan Centre has provided
extensive human rights training for Australian government departments andoverseas public officials. The Centre has also run courses for officers in theAustralian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as well as AustralianAgency for International Development (Ausaid) courses for governmentand civil society participants from Indonesia, Iraq, Vietnam and Burma/Myanmar. Involvement in these courses reflects the Centre’s commitment
to helping improve human rights in our region.
State Level Training – The Victorian Charter
The Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities came into fulleffect on 1 January 2008. The Charter is a Victorian law which sets out thebasic rights, freedoms and responsibilities of all people in Victoria. It was
the second piece of state or territory wide human rights legislation to bepassed, after the Human Rights Act was introduced in the Australian Capital
Territory in 2004. The introduction of the Victorian legislation generated a137

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H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i chigh degree of demand from professional bodies for training on the Charter’smeaning and likely effects, as well as government departments and statutory
bodies who sought to better understand their new responsibilities.
In the lead-up to the implementation of the Charter, the Castan Centre
conducted training for the Judicial College of Victoria, the Victorian
Department of Justice and the Victorian Equal Opportunity and HumanRights Commission.
In 2007 the Castan Centre conducted human rights training courses
for the Judicial College of Victoria, which is responsible for the continuing
education of all of Victoria’s judges and judicial officers. The Castan Centre
provided training focusing on those parts of the Charter most relevant
to judges, in particular those sections giving judges the power to declare
law incompatible with the Charter or to interpret laws in such a way as
to make them compatible. The presentations introduced personnel to theCharter and included discussions of sections on interpretation of statutory
provisions and declarations of incompatibility. These courses highlighted
some general characteristics of human rights, as well as human rights law
sources which underpin the Charter. They also focused on the historicalbackground to the Charter, as well as the Victorian Government’s “wholeof government” approach. In the same year, the Castan Centre conducteda training course entitled “The Charter and Rights to Criminal Justice:
Training for Prosecutors” on behalf of the Victorian Department of Justice.
As part of a human rights training program the Castan Centre undertookthree projects for the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights
Commission (veorhc) in 2006-2007, with the emphasis on challenges likely
to be faced by the Commission with the implementation of the new Charter.
Veorhc has a unique mandate to educate the community about humanrights, so training focused partly on creating a group of people capable ofdelivering training to community groups. To complement this effort, theCastan Centre also developed appropriate materials and case studies for
non-legally trained people, much of which is now freely available on theveorhc website. The three projects covered with veorhc were i) Applied
Human Rights Training to help Commission staff to identify issues regarding Charter rights; ii) Development of Human Rights Training Resources;and iii) Legal Training to Commission personnel.

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After the Charter came into effect, the Castan Centre ran further
training for legal professionals: “Charter Workshop – Theory and Practice,
Practical Training for Victorian Barristers on the Victorian Charter”.
National Level Training
AusAID and DFATThe Castan Centre has had over a decade of experience providing humanrights training to government officials at a national level. Beginning in 2002,
the Centre developed and delivered many human rights training workshops
over nine years to officers in the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs& Trade (dfat) in Canberra. In later years, the Castan Centre course wasintegrated into dfat’s graduate traineeship program.
The Castan Centre also conducted training in Human Rights,Governance and Law Reform for Ausaid officials during some of this period.
These courses for government bureaucrats focused in detail on legal
content, but also had a practical emphasis for the staff in their daily work.
They included in-depth discussions about how the different human rights
principles might come into conflict in a practical context, and considerationof the various competing pressures in international diplomacy. To that end,
Castan Centre trainers worked closely with dfat staff to design a programthat was meaningful to their work.
The courses have been well received by the participants, who have relished the chance to flesh out their daily duties from a human rights pointof view.
The Aurora Project
Between 2006 and 2012 the Castan Centre has participated in The
Aurora Project, a program aimed at assisting Indigenous communities dealing with native title issues. In 2006, the Castan Centre successfully tendered
to conduct a capacity-building professional development program for thestaff of Native Title Representative Bodies (ntrbs). Ntrbs perform the crucial task of assisting native title claimants and holders to navigate the legal processes and procedures involved with making applications under theNative Title Act, as well as assisting with negotiations related to Indigenous
Land Use Agreements.

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The project was commissioned by the Australian Federal Government,
and was supported by the University of New South Wales, as well as thelaw faculty at Monash University. The Federal Government was following
up on a report issued by a parliamentary committee on Native Title. TheCommittee’s report stated that there was a need to “increase the stock ofknowledge” of ntrbs, and especially for the professional staff working at
the representative bodies. The Parliamentary report also generated significant public discussion and attracted widespread interest among manydifferent groups including the media, politicians, academics, bureaucratic/
departmental personnel, the judiciary, commercial law firms and naturally
the ntrbs themselves.
One of the initiatives put in place by the project is a student placement
program for ntrbs, which gave students the opportunity to gain valuable
first-hand experience of the field, while also assisting the ntrbs in their
daily operation. The program oversaw the creation of an induction manual
to provide new staff with an understanding of both the context in which
they are working and the key legal and native title concepts, issues and processes. Training, development and support needs of current ntrb staff werealso addressed. In a wider context, the importance of familiarizing the legal community with the work and career opportunities within the ntrbs
was also recognized and the program aimed to foster the creation of a network of people working within and connected to the work of the ntrbs toprovide support, and training. At the time of the successful tender, Centre
Deputy Director Melissa Castan said “this is a great opportunity for theCommonwealth, the ntrbs and academic specialists to work together on
improving professional development in this field”.
International Level Training
The bulk of the Castan Centre’s human rights training experience has beenin the international sphere, with a particular focus on the Southeast Asiansubregion.
Burma
The Castan Centre delivered a series of Human Rights andResponsibilities workshops for mid-level civil servants in Rangoon from2002 under the auspices of Ausaid. The series included workshops on

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the Convention on the Rights of the Child and on the Convention on theElimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
The experience of delivering human rights training to bureaucrats in aregime that was clearly among the worst human rights abusers of the timebrought a great deal of controversy and debate. The considered view of theCastan Centre members involved with this course was that it was important
to engage with the regime and expose them to the concepts of international
human rights law, however the very real risk that the participation in sucha course could be used as a fig leaf of respectability for a regime that had
no intention of genuine reform was very much acknowledged and in thethoughts of the trainers. Ultimately this program was discontinued after theAustralian government’s change of policy regarding engagement with theBurmese regime following the re-arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2003.
Indonesia
Since 2001 the Castan Centre has developed a strong record of delivering human rights training for Indonesian officials through the IndonesiaAustralia Specialized Training Project. The project is an Ausaid program funded by the Australian and Indonesian governments. The Castan
Centre’s involvement in this program reflects its mandate, to promote andprotect human rights not only in Australia but also across the world. Ms.
Julie Debeljak, PhD, the team leader of the program, explains further, “TheCentre views this program, and other such programs, as an opportunity toengage with governments about human rights. Given that States are the primary obligation holders under international human rights law, what better way to influence the behaviours of governments than through educationand dialogue?”
Four separate programs were delivered under this project between 2001
and 2006. In each course, between sixteen and twenty Indonesian participants took part, drawn from government ministries and agencies – particularly the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, as well as the Ministry ofForeign Affairs and the Attorney General’s Department, and regional government offices including Aceh and Papua – as well as academic institutions
and non-governmental organizations. Judges, police officers and journalists have also been among the programs’ participants. Each program ran forthree months and comprised of lectures and seminars on the general theme

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H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i cof the nature, form and protection of human rights, as well as on-site agency
visits.
Each of the four courses included a program of lectures and seminars
on the general theme of the nature, form and protection of human rights atinternational, regional and domestic levels. Topical issues at the time of eachcourse were also considered in depth, including: the rights of women andchildren; terrorism; the right to health; conflict resolution and post-conflictreconstruction; the rights of internally displaced peoples; corporations andhuman rights; and the myriad of human rights issues flowing from bordercontrol. Transparency, accountability and anti-corruption in government
were also key themes in the training.
A wide range of Monash University lecturers and expert guest speakers
were engaged and a large number of federal and state agencies hosted visitsfrom the delegation.
On-site agency visits were an integral part of the course, providing
participants a greater understanding and experience of the workings ofAustralian institutions dealing with human rights. These included visits inMelbourne, where the Castan Centre is based, as well as Canberra, the national capital, and Sydney. The precise itinerary varied from one course toanother, but included the following at various times.
The Melbourne program of on-site visits included among others theVictorian Parliament, the Federal Court, Equal Opportunity and HumanRights Commission, Amnesty International, Victorian Aboriginal Legal
Service, the Victorian Foundation for the Victims of Torture, the Disability
Employment Advocacy Centre and two prisons (one run by the governmentand one privately run).
In Canberra their visits included the Attorney General’s Department,
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian Institute of Aboriginaland Torres Strait Islanders, Australian Federal Police, CommonwealthDirector of Public Prosecutions and the Australian Council for OverseasAid.
Sydney on-site visits included the Australian Law Reform Commission,
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, IndependentCommission Against Corruption, Police Integrity Commission and Legal
Aid Commission.
Ani Purwanti Ani, a lecturer in the Faculty of Law at Diponegero
University in Central Java, was one of the training participants on the 2004

Castan Centre for Human Rights Law143course. She said that she wanted to participate in the program “to developmy knowledge about Human Rights, especially women in the law and tounderstand the implementation of Human Rights in Australia”. She said thatthe most useful part of the training was learning about “charters and treaties
such as the Convention Against Torture, Convention on the Elimination ofAll Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Eliminationof All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.”
Another training participant, Muhammad Iqbal Muhammad, was Chief
Information Officer of Human Rights Information Systems in the Ministryof Law and Human Rights. He said that he wanted to take part in the program because his “work involves socialization and dissemination of humanrights information and I really need to improve and increase my knowledgeof human rights. The other important things are experiences of other countries, about how they solve human rights issues”. He said that he hoped tolearn “new perspectives and experiences in the human rights field, boththeoretical and practical”, and that the most interesting part of the course
were the “discussions, debates, and the sharing of ideas” made possible by
the lessons in the classroom. He also said that the “instructors use appropriate teaching methods and play an important role, although the material/
subjects are difficult”.
Their participation in the program reflects a strong individual commitment to human rights and to implementing change, as they leave their families and homes to immerse themselves in another country for three months
of intensive study, discussion and debate.
The content and format of the program were varied, resulting in a lively,
thought provoking and challenging three months of seminars and on-site
visits to institutions that deal with human rights issues. According to Ms.
Debeljak, the structure of the program was carefully balanced to give participants a solid foundation in human rights theory and concepts, while also
ensuring that they “are equipped to translate the knowledge gained during the Australian training program to their workplaces and Indonesiansociety more generally upon their return home.” The various site visits inMelbourne, Sydney and Canberra aimed to provide “practical, workplace
related training” and were combined with a strong emphasis on case studies
and group exercises. This approach recognized the importance of participants gaining “practical skills to develop effective strategies for the better
protection and promotion of human rights in Indonesia.”

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This focus on practicality, and returning to Indonesia with a solid plan of
how to implement what they have learned and absorbed over their months
in Australia was reflected in one of the major outcomes of the program, thedesign and implementation of individual Action Plans. The Action Plans areintended to translate the knowledge acquired during the course into practical outcomes for the participants in their workplace or in Indonesian society generally, and thereby further the implementation of the promotion
and protection of human rights within Indonesia. “Change, however smallor large, will be effected through the implementation of the Action Plans”,
said Ms. Debeljak. “Each participant will leave Australia with at least one
strategy to pursue to improve human rights in Indonesia upon their return.”
The program also provides the opportunity for a constant exchange ofideas and perspectives between the participants and the presenters themselves. As reflected upon by Ms. Debeljak, “there are many wonderful moments when a participant asks a question or offers a comment that demonstrates a nuanced understanding of a human rights issue. Indeed, some of
their observations make me revise my own long-held opinions about certainissues.” The program provided a reminder of the value of discussion anddebate, and of the value that different perspectives and experiences can offer: “Training programs are always a two-way street. There is always an exchange of ideas, information and knowledge throughout these programs.
The greatest insight I have gained is with respect to Indonesian culture. This
helps me situate debates about the universality of human rights, pluralism
and cultural relativism in a way that no amount of reading could ever do.”
Iraq
Looking beyond East Asia, the Castan Centre has also run human rights
courses for Iraqi officials.
The Castan Centre, in partnership with Monash International, has
run human rights courses as part of the Rehabilitation Assistance Facility:
Iraq (rafi), which is an Ausaid funded program managed by sagricInternational. The Castan Centre, in partnership with Monash International,
ran human rights courses as part of rafi.
The first course in 2004 was a fourteen-day human rights course for fivemembers of the Iraqi Ministry for Human Rights. The training entailed sessions on introductory human rights concepts, international human rights
law, as well as human rights issues and case studies in Iraq and Australia.

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As part of the program, the trainees travelled to Sydney where the
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and the Asia-Pacific
Forum for Human Rights Institutions hosted them. The trainees also travelled to Canberra, where they received information on the Australian electoral process, and were hosted by the Australian Electoral Commission in
the National Tally Room on election night, 9 October 2004.
The Castan Centre’s engagement with Iraqi officials has continued in
the years that followed. In October 2007 Castan Centre Deputy Director
Adam McBeth provided training for officers of the Iraqi Ministry of HumanRights on “Corporations, international trade and human rights”. Further
training has been provided on a broad range of human rights topics as partof the Rehabilitation Assistance Facility: Iraq project several times sincethen, and this program remains an ongoing commitment of the CastanCentre. Most recently, the Castan Centre delivered a training course for delegates from the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights in Transitional Justice inMay 2012, with another program of training for Iraqi delegates scheduledfor December 2012.
Conclusion
With over a decade of human rights training experience, the Castan Centre
has seen a growing interest in learning about human rights both in Australia
and across the Southeast Asia subregion. At each level, state, national orinternational, the Centre’s training programs are tailored to suit the participants and the subject matter. This flexibility has allowed the Castan Centre
keep its courses relevant and useful for the participants in their everyday
work. The Castan Centre sees its training activities as a central componentof its mission to protect and promote human rights, and looks forward toexpanding its training programs to include participants from the corporate
sector in the future.