US report looks at Aust human rights

Australia's human rights challenges include asylum seeker policies, domestic violence on women and children and discrimination against indigenous people, a US government report has found.

Australia, compared to other nations, fares relatively well in the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices report released annually by the US State Department.

The report points to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein's speech last year stating Australia's policies were "leading to a chain of human rights violations, including arbitrary detention and possible torture" for asylum seekers following their return to home countries.

It also cites reports and arrests for anti-Semitism in Australia, examples of government corruption, age discrimination and the Western Australian Inspector of Custodial Services description of conditions at the Roebourne Regional Prison in Western Australia as "intolerable and inhumane".

"The main human rights challenges reported were domestic violence against women and children, particularly in indigenous communities; discrimination against indigenous people; and policies affecting asylum seekers, including lengthy detention and austere detention center conditions for some attempting to reach the country by sea," the US report's chapter on Australia states.