Australia’s Rule of Law Index ranking has slid downwards for the second year in a row.
Last year, Australia came in at eighth spot, down from seventh position in the previous year, but in 2015 it has slipped to tenth in the World Justice Project ranking.
Evidence of discrimination and lack of equal treatment for immigrants and low-come people in civil and criminal justice systems continue to be the problem areas, with Australia lagging behind other high income countries.
Effective investigations, effective correctional systems and discrimination in Australia’s criminal justice system were also factors that adversely impacted its standing, while discrimination and accessibly and affordability in the civil justice system were also highlighted.
The annual project surveys around 100,000 households and experts to measure how the rule of law is experienced in everyday life around the world across a number of factors: constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice, criminal justice and informal justice.
Ranking well behind New Zealand, which came in at number six this year, Australia remains ahead of the US and the UK, the top 20 ranked countries listed below.
- Denmark
- Norway
- Sweden
- Finland
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Austria
- Germany
- Singapore
- Australia
- Republic of Korea
- United Kingdom
- Japan
- Canada
- Estonia
- Belgium
- Hon Kong SAR, China
- France
- United States
- Czech Republic
