Australian race relations are not as they should be.

In the last year, events including Indigenous youth being assaulted in detention, the death of young Elijah Doherty and the treatment of refugees on Manus Island have shown this.

But after its election unopposed to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Australia has a fundamental obligation to ensure that it acts as a world leader in human rights.

The UN Office of the High Commission for Human Rights expects Australia will start to lead by example — our government must show through actions, and not just words, that human rights really matter and we will uphold our treaty obligations as we have agreed to.

Systemic racism is a problem

One of those key treaties is the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Australia signed the convention in 1975 and implemented it through the Race Discrimination Act 1975.

Unfortunately race discrimination, racism and racist violence remain a significant problem today in Australia.

While our laws and policies are not overtly or expressly racist, systemic, institutional and structural forms of race discrimination continue to affect Indigenous people and people from migrant and refugee communities.

We can acknowledge the progress made, but we must also have an honest dialogue about the challenges we face. Too many Aboriginal lives are blighted by the lack of realisation of the right to racial equality.

The Royal Commission into youth detention in the NT has cast a shadow over Australia's human rights record. ( Supplied )

For migrants and refugees, the situation is also troubling and the recent treatment of people at Manus Island does not make us proud as a nation.

A hard look at ourselves

This week in Geneva, Australia's compliance with the convention will be reviewed by a committee of independent experts who will also hear from the Australian civil society represented by non-government organisations concerned about our handling of the human rights set out in the Treaty.

Our delegation has arrived in Geneva to speak to a "shadow report" we have prepared for the committee, endorsed by 53 community organisations in Australia.

The report outlines issues that need to be addressed as a priority. They are inconsistent with our treaty obligation to ensure non-discrimination on the basis of race, culture and ethnicity.

The shadow report outlines the key areas of concern including racism as a growing problem in Australia.

What's in our report? shortcomings in anti-discrimination law

shortcomings in anti-discrimination law violence and discrimination against Aboriginal women

violence and discrimination against Aboriginal women deficiencies with native title

deficiencies with native title Aboriginal children over-represented in out of home care

Aboriginal children over-represented in out of home care issues facing migrant workers and refugees

issues facing migrant workers and refugees Australia's offshore detention process

The shadow report notes a visit in 2017 by the UN Special rapporteur on Indigenous peoples that "found deeply disturbing the numerous reports on the prevalence of racism against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples".

The committee will ask the Australian government about issues of concern. As independent experts appointed by their countries they bring a wealth of knowledge to the table and Australia should use this as an opportunity to seek to improve its human rights record.

The committee's exchange with Australia about its human rights record is likely to be informative, robust and critical. By the end of the committee's questioning, the Australian government should be left with no doubt that we must do better when it comes to race relations.

How do we do better?

The report acknowledges the need to combat racism through proactive legal and policy reforms and calls on the Australian government to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and refugee and migrant communities to support, strengthen and develop anti-racism education programs.

The UN Committee will identify progress and make significant recommendations to Australia about issues of concern.

Unfortunately our government has not always considered reports of the treaty bodies with the respect they deserve. This attitude reflects a serious error of judgement as the reports are international law and Australia is bound to give effect to our treaty obligations.

It's time we made up our minds on human rights: we are either for or against and our commitment to human rights must be clear and unambiguous.

Unquestionably, it is in our interests to improve our engagement and commitment to human rights — this is the Australia that we can be truly proud of.

Dr Hannah McGlade is a Noongar human rights lawyer and researcher. She is the senior Indigenous research fellow at Curtin university and a director of Aboriginal Family Law Services.