GENEVA (15 January 2021) – Australia’s human rights record will be examined by the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group for the third time on Wednesday, 20 January 2021 in a meeting that will be webcast live. Australia is one of the 14 States to be reviewed by the UPR Working Group during its upcoming session taking place from 18 to 29 January *. Australia’s first and second UPR reviews took place in January 2011 and November 2015, respectively. The documents on which the reviews are based are: 1) national report - information provided by the State under review; 2) information contained in the reports of independent human rights experts and groups, known as the Special Procedures, human rights treaty bodies, and other UN entities; 3) information provided by other stakeholders including national human rights institutions, regional organizations and civil society groups. The three reports serving as the basis for the review of Australia on 20 January can be found here. Location: Assembly Hall, Palais des Nations, Geneva [NB: Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the meeting will be held using a combination of in-person and remote participation, and media representatives are encouraged to follow the proceedings on webcast. Time and date: 09.00 – 12.30, Wednesday, 20 January (Geneva time, GMT +1 hour) The UPR is a unique process which involves a periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States. Since its first meeting was held in April 2008, all 193 UN member States have been reviewed twice within the first and second UPR cycles. During the third UPR cycle, States are again expected to spell out steps they have taken to implement recommendations posed during their previous reviews which they committed to follow-up on, as well as to highlight recent human rights developments in the country. The delegation of Australia will be led by Andrew Walter, First Assistant Secretary, Integrity and Security Division, Attorney-General’s Department The three country representatives serving as rapporteurs (“troika”) for the review of Australia are: Italy, Marshall Islands and Senegal. The webcast of the session will be at http://webtv.un.org The list of speakers and all available statements to be delivered during the review of Australia will be posted on the UPR Extranet. The UPR Working Group is scheduled to adopt the recommendations made to Australia at 16.30 on 22 January. The State under review may wish to express its positions on recommendations posed to it during their review. * The UPR 37th session was originally scheduled to be held in November 2020, although was postponed due to COVID-19 measures. ENDS