In the early days of the United Nations, Australia was thought of as a leader in human rights. Dr H V Evatt, the Attorney General and Minister for External Affairs in the Chifley Labor Government was involved in the development of the United Nations Organization itself and in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He was President of the UN General Assembly when the Declaration was adopted in 1948. However Australia has since been criticised because its citizens' human rights are not protected through either a Bill of Rights, or through mention in the Constitution. The right to equal opportunity is considered one of the basic human rights.
Equal opportunity is a positive way of describing the absence of discrimination.
People are provided with equal opportunity if they are not discriminated against because of irrelevant characteristics. Equal opportunity laws oblige people not to do certain acts, and provide a remedy for individuals when the unlawful acts are done. Discrimination means noting the difference between things. American Presidents of both parties supported the principle of non discrimination. For example, in 1959 the Republican Dwight D Eisenhower signed a document which required all firms with Federal Government contracts to have some recognition of equal opportunity.