The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: Using a concept of rights as a basis for practice

This article looks at the status of the Convention of the Rights of the Child in Australia and the possibilities that exist for the child care professional to meet responsibilities under this agreement. Australia signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990. Since ratifying this international treaty there has been a growing interest in the concept of rights and the idea that children are possessors of rights from birth. Early childhood advocates have a special responsibility to incorporate ideals of the citizen child into their teaching and service provision. Within this framework of the Rights of the Child the infant's rights and development in a group setting are discussed. There is a need to examine programs and relate them to our societal views of children. If social views of children are unsatisfactory we must formulate a democratic vision of the child within an Australian context to make effective changes to our programs.