Ten Australians have filed a legal case with the United Nations claiming the Australian Government is violating their human rights by continuing to support coal and gas companies to fuel climate extremes across the country. 

The 10 claimants are represented by Environmental Justice Australia, Human Rights Law Centre, and Earthjustice. Traditional Owners, firefighters, teachers, students, and disability advocates from across the country have brought this case because they have each been seriously harmed by extreme events such as catastrophic bushfires, unprecedented heatwaves, floods, creeping sea level rise, and algal blooms - fueled by Australian coal and gas.   

The Hard Truths case is the first legal claim filed in an international court or body against a country for climate harm since the International Court of Justice found last year that countries have a legal duty to prevent significant harm to the climate. In May, Australia joined 140 other countries in passing a major United Nations resolution supporting this landmark legal ruling on climate change.   

The Hard Truths case was filed with the UN Human Rights Committee, which is the body that adjudicates claims against states for breaches of international human rights law. Launched in Parliament today, the Hard Truths case argues that by supporting coal and gas companies to dig up and export coal and gas, the Albanese Government is driving climate harms that result in violations of Australians’ rights to life, right to family and home, and First Nations rights to culture. 
 
Australia is one of the world’s largest exporters of coal and gas. Around 80% of coal and gas produced in Australia is shipped overseas to be burned. As that pollution is exported, Australia excludes it from its climate policies and targets. 

These 10 Australians have asked the UN Human Rights Committee to declare it is unlawful for Australia to continue approving coal and gas projects for export without a plan to keep Australians safe from dangerous climate change. 

The claimants are calling on the Australian Government to: 

• Stop making things worse by saying yes to coal and gas corporations; 
• Stop subsidising coal and gas companies producing the climate pollution that’s harming Australians; and 
• Develop a credible plan to phase out fossil fuel exports, to save lives and protect communities. 

To learn more about this case and the stories of the 10 Australian claimants, please visit hardtruthscase.org.au.

Press Conference Details 

When:  Tuesday 23 June, 12:30pm 

Where: Mural Hall, Australian Parliament House, Parliament Dr, Canberra ACT   

Who: 

• Zali Steggall MP, Independent member for Warringah 
• Professor Anne Poelina, claimant, Traditional Owner and researcher 
• Dr Barry Traill, claimant, ecologist and volunteer firefighter 
• Mel Fisher, claimant and poverty and disability rights advocate
• Jack McLean, Senior Lawyer, Human Rights Law Centre  
• Hannah White, Senior Lawyer, Environmental Justice Australia  
• Noni Austin, international legal consultant to Earthjustice 
  

Quotes attributable to Professor Anne Poelina, Nyikina Warrwa and Warlungurru woman and Chair of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council in Western Australia: 
“I belong to the River of Life, and the river belongs to all of us through our responsibility to care for it. In 2023, my home community at Balginjirr went underwater during devastating floods that displaced our people from Country, and our homes, sacred sites, gardens, food plants and the graves of our ancestors were submerged. I immediately understood this was not simply a “natural” disaster, but the foreseeable consequence of a warming climate.  
“Despite decades of scientific warnings, governments continue approving coal and gas projects and I believe this is a failure to protect both people and Country from foreseeable harm. We must stop normalising destruction, while ignoring Indigenous knowledge systems that hold important solutions for how we can live in relationship with the natural world.” 

Quotes attributable to Dr Barry Traill, wildlife ecologist, volunteer firefighter and conservationist from Sunshine Coast: 
“As both a scientist and firefighter, I’ve watched bushfires become more severe and deadly every decade. I’ve seen fires claim the lives of friends, and in February 2020 I survived a burning tree collapsing onto our fire truck – leaving me with emotional breakdowns and ongoing trauma. As a scientist, I know many animals and their habitats will not survive unchecked climate change. Some places I have worked and loved throughout my career may become effectively uninhabitable within my lifetime.  

“I believe governments have a fundamental duty to protect people from foreseeable harm. The science around climate change and fossil fuels has been clear for decades. Continuing to allow coal and gas companies to increase pollution, while people face worsening disasters, is an appalling failure of responsibility.” 

Quote attributable to Melissa Fisher, disability and antipoverty advocate from Adelaide: 
“People living in poverty, people with disabilities and chronic illnesses, and people in poor-quality housing are often the ones hit hardest by climate change. For me, extreme heat directly impacts my severe auto-inflammatory skin condition and sometimes the pain gets so bad that it can feel like my skin is ripping and tearing. I live in public housing with poor insulation and during heatwaves the walls become hot to touch. I constantly worry about infections, hospitalisation, heatstroke and whether I’ll be able to afford enough electricity to keep myself cool.  

“I want decision-makers to understand that climate change is already affecting people’s health, housing, finances and ability to survive. I hope this case helps push governments to take real climate action and better protect people living with disability, illness and poverty before more lives are put at risk.” 

Quotes attributable to Hannah White, Senior Lawyer, Environmental Justice Australia: 
“Australia is one of the largest exporters of coal and gas in the world. No matter where it’s burned, climate pollution from Australia’s coal and gas is harming Australians. 
“Our clients want the Albanese government to face the hard truth that successive governments have avoided. 

“Climate harm caused by Australia's coal and gas doesn't stop at a border, and neither does Australia's responsibility for it. 
“They are asking the United Nations Human Rights Committee to declare that it’s unlawful for Australia to continue approving and subsidising coal and gas for export without a plan to protect people from dangerous climate change. 

Quotes attributable to Jack McLean, Senior Lawyer, Human Rights Law Centre: 
“This claim is being brought by 10 Australians who have been profoundly harmed by climate pollution – losing homes and loved ones to bushfires, being trapped and displaced by floods, hospitalised during extreme heat, and seeing Country and culture disrupted by rising seas and algal blooms.

“They are calling on the Albanese Government to confront the hard truth that those harms are fuelled by Australian coal and gas. 
“Everyone deserves to live safely with their families and communities, free from the fear of climate disasters. The Albanese Government must phase out coal and gas and protect people’s rights to life, home, and culture.” 

 
Quote attributable to Ramin Pejan, Deputy Managing Attorney of the International Program at Earthjustice: 
“All governments have a legal duty to act on the climate crisis, as affirmed by the International Court of Justice last year. The Australian government is failing that responsibility by allowing unchecked exports of coal and gas – by far Australia's largest contribution to climate change. We stand with Australian communities in their fight to combat climate change and protect their lives, families, homes, and culture.” 

Background 
The Hard Truths claim will be filed with the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC), which is the body that adjudicates claims against states for breaches of international human rights law. It’s an independent body of experts that monitors how countries meet their obligations under one of the major international human rights treaties, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the Covenant). It provides a pathway for people to bring complaints when they believe their government has breached their human rights. The Committee reviews written submissions from both the complainants and the government, considers evidence including expert reports, and assesses whether the government has met its human rights obligations.    

If it finds a breach, the Committee can make formal findings and recommend actions the government should take. As a party to the Covenant, Australia is legally bound to consider the Committee’s findings in good faith. The Committee’s decisions are not directly enforceable like a court order, but they carry significant legal and international weight, and governments are expected to respond and act on their recommendations. 

 
These 10 Australians have asked the United Nations Human Rights Committee to declare it is unlawful for Australia to continue approving coal and gas projects for export without a plan to keep people safe from dangerous climate change. 

They are asking the HRC to recommend that the Australian government:  

• Review Australia’s climate pollution decisions – including the coal and gas Australia sends overseas – to ensure they are consistent with legal obligations and global goals to limit catastrophic global heating. 
• Develop a plan to reduce climate pollution from burning Australia’s coal, gas and oil in line with global goals to limit dangerous climate change.  
• Pause approvals for coal and gas for export until that plan is in place.
  
  

About the 10 Australians filing this case

Anne Poelina: In the Kimberley, devastating floods and extreme heat are affecting Country, cultural knowledge and the Martuwarra Fitzroy River system. As a traditional owner and globally recognised researcher, Anne has spent her life advocating for Country and living waters.  

Rikki Dank: On the Barkly Tablelands in the NT, extreme heat is making Rikki’s Country, as a Gudanji and Wakaya woman, harder to live on and disrupting cultural knowledge passed down through generations.    

Barry Traill: When the pager beeps, volunteer firefighter Barry still drives towards danger. But these days, bushfires no longer follow the old rules.   

Mel Fisher: In Adelaide heatwaves, even the tap water runs warm in Mel’s poorly insulated public housing unit, making her chronic illnesses hard to bear.   

Brendon Donohue: Brendon is blind and was trapped alone in his apartment for 10 days after the Brisbane floods shut down the lifts and power. There was no evacuation plan and no safe way out.   

Jack Egan: On the NSW South Coast, Jack stayed to defend his home as the Black Summer fires tore through his community, burning his house to the ground.   

Latisha Francis: As a Narungga, Ngarrindjeri and Kaurna woman and marine science student, Latisha is fighting toxic algal blooms, which are disconnecting her and her family from Sea Country and waterways. 

Sama Youhana: Living beside the Brisbane River, Sama wakes through the night during storms to check whether floodwaters will rise into her family’s home again.   

Pam Francis: Narungga, Ngarrindjeri and Kaurna woman Pam teaches young Aboriginal children about language, Culture and Country, while fighting to protect Sea Country and waterways from toxic algal blooms. 

Cat: As temperatures rise in rural South Australia, Cat’s chronic illnesses leave her in “survival mode”, while worsening bushfire risk leaves her unsure she can escape in time.  

ENDS

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Media contacts - [email protected]
Elle Murrell, EJA: 03 8341 3120
Laura Murphy-Oats, HRLC: 0435 836 664