How do I go about responding to the human rights short answer question? For example, "How are is ONE human right best protected in Australia..."
Cheers
Hey chuckiecheese! Awesome question, and quite a broad one, I'll answer it the best way I can and feel free to follow up with me if it's confusing
So, your Trial and HSC Exam (and any others will be similar) will have 15 marks of Human Rights Short Answer Questions. So, you won't get just one, you will get a variety of questions.
The questions worth lower marks are a little easier, because the questions are quite narrow. For example:
Identify two non-governmental organisations that assist with the promotion of human rights. They have a very specific focus and thus are a little easier to answer, since you are directed.
The more difficult questions (and the ones you are probably more concerned about) are the more open ended questions. For example, your question,
How is ONE human right best protected in Australia. These are tricky because you aren't given a direct path to go down, you more or less form your own ideas. And this is tough.
My advice for these sorts of question is to respond with a PEEL/MATES paragraph, just like you would use in the body of your essay.
Start with a topic sentence, addressing the question and giving your judgement (if it is necessary, and often, it is nice to blend one in anyway). In the case of your question, you'll obviously identify which area you are addressing. Follow it up with an amplification statement giving a little more info.
Human rights, such as the right to freedom of movement, although enshrined in international law, are most effectively handled by domestic jurisdictions. Indeed, in Australia, the right to freedom of movement is most effectively protected by domestic legislation and judicial decisions.Follow this up with your actual response to the question, supported by examples. How is the human right protected in Australia? Be sure to include laws and cases at bare minimum, and even media/reports if you can. You could write sentences like:
The Criminal Code (Trafficking in Persons Offences) Amendment Act 2005 (Cth), enables offences which infringe on this fundamental right to be prosecuted at the federal level. Such has occurred in cases such as R v Ho et al (2012), where state superior courts have successfully applied domestic legislation to handle people trafficking offences.Once you have exhausted your evidence (or run out of room), simply conclude with something like:
Thus, it is clear that domestic legislation, judicial decisions, and other legal mechanisms prove vital to the protection of human rights such as the right to freedom of movement.This PEEL approach is systematic, and guarantees a well structured response. Just be careful to address the question, and also to address the specific verb. I always throw in a little evaluation, but be sure that if you need to evaluate, you evaluate. If you only need to describe, just describe. Make the separation between high order response (analyse, synthesise, evaluate, explain) and low order response (identify, list, describe). It will save you lots of time