The marriage equality debate has been "bruising” and put the mental health of young LGBTI people at risk, Human Rights Commissioner Ed Santow says.
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Mr Santow, who has been the human rights commissioner since August 2016, was visiting the Border to speak with a number of community groups about a variety of topics, including the postal survey and the rights of prisoners.
With tensions between the ‘Yes’ and 'No’ camps rising after former prime minister Tony Abbott was headbutted in Hobart by a self-proclaimed anarchist and a 16-year-old trans girl was assaulted on Monday, Mr Santow said both sides needed to “take the heat out of the debate”.
In a meeting with the Hume Phoenix on Sunday, Mr Santow said concerns had been raised about the mental health of the LGBTI community.
“In relation to marriage, there was an acknowledgement that a big national debate like this is bruising,” he said.
“Particularly young people, hearing the nasty things that are being said, at least the extremes of the debate, they’re reporting being very upset or sometimes worse.
“What we spoke about was trying to take the heat out of the debate and being as supportive as possible.
“It’s about helping young people especially get access to the support services they need, and also making them feel that the wider Australian community is more kind and embracing than the opposite.”
Mr Santow also met with the Albury and District Law Society to discuss the rights of people in detention.
Of particular interest was the federal government’s decision to ratify the United Nations’ Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, which Attorney-General George Brandis committed to earlier this year.
The international treaty, when ratified, would mean all of Australia's prisons and immigration detention centres would be monitored by an independent network.
“What's really interesting about this treaty is that it doesn't create any new, substantive human rights,” Mr Santow said.
“We already know what the core things to protect people who are detained are.
“There will be a sophisticated process of inspections, the first time we've had a universal process of regular inspection of all places of detention in Australia, which is really important.”