Do Australians care about human rights? : awareness, hierarchies of sympathy and universality

This chapter provides insight into the views of Australians on the importance of human rights, how well people think they are currently protected and which human rights are most important to them. Research on human rights internationally has tended to neglect public awareness and support for human rights. The human rights of asylum seekers, and the attitudes and debates around that, as well as data on experiences of racism, are analysed in this chapter and demonstrate limited awareness, non-universality and a hierarchy of sympathy towards vulnerable groups.