PRESS RELEASE – Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing to visit Australia

28 July 2006

The Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, Miloon Kothari, will undertake a visit to Australia from 31 July to 15 August 2006, at the invitation of the Australian authorities.

The Special Rapporteur will travel to various urban and rural locations, including Canberra, Sydney, Lightning Ridge, Brisbane, Townsville, Palm Island, Darwin, Alice Springs, Adelaide, Melbourne and Bendigo.

The objective of the Special Rapporteur’s visit will be to examine and report on the status of realization of the right to adequate housing and other related rights in the country, paying particular attention to issues of non-discrimination, gender equality, rights of indigenous peoples, access to and affordability of adequate housing, land, civic services, homelessness and evictions and security of tenure in this perspective.

During his visit, Mr. Kothari will engage in dialogue with the Government and civil society on their efforts to secure these rights; and try to identify practical solutions and best practices in the realization of rights related to his mandate. The Special Rapporteur will attend a number of civic forums that have been organized in different parts of the country.

Mr. Kothari was appointed Special Rapporteur on adequate housing in September 2000. His mandate involves reporting annually on the status throughout the world of the realization of the rights that are related to the right to adequate housing, and identifying practical solutions and good practices towards this end. An architect by training, Mr. Kothari has extensive experience in the area of housing and land rights. Since his appointment as Special Rapporteur, he has carried out many missions and visits to countries such as Romania, Mexico, Peru, Afghanistan, Kenya, Brazil, Iran and Cambodia.

For more information on the mandate and work of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, please consult the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at: http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/housing/index.htm

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