SNAICC urged the Australian Government to sign and ratify the Third Optional Protocol of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This Optional Protocol establishes an individual communications mechanism under the Convention which will enable children and their representatives to make complaints about violations of their rights under the Convention. It responds to a critical gap in the incorporation of human rights into many areas of law and policy that benefit children in Australia, as outlined in the Human Rights Law Centre submission, which SNAICC supports. The Optional Protocol would provide support for strengthened human rights protection here in Australia, and would have particular benefit for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.