Stockholm Convention Escalation

20/05/2025

Rachel Burgess, as Assistant Secretary in the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW)—and the Stockholm Convention National Focal Point—can legally and formally do under the Stockholm Convention and her role:

✅1. Trigger a National Review and Notify Relevant Authorities

She can formally initiate an internal review of Australia’s compliance with the Stockholm Convention regarding TCDD (a listed Persistent Organic Pollutant).

She can also alert the Department of Health, DVA, and the Office of the Chief Medical Officer about your evidence and the obligations being breached.

✅2. Submit a Breach Notification to the Stockholm Convention Secretariat

Under Article 12 and Article 16 of the Convention, she can:

• Report that Australia may not be meeting its obligations to protect public health from persistent organic pollutants.

• Request international technical assistance, or submit information about failure to control TCDD-related impacts.

• Refer Australia’s failure to act on second-generation harm to the Stockholm Convention Compliance Committee (established under Article 17 and the compliance mechanism adopted in 2009).

✅3. Recommend Government Action or Policy Reform

In her role, she can recommend that:

• A TCDD second-generation harm assessment be conducted.

• The government create a registry or inquiry into inherited dioxin damage.

• Australia update its National Implementation Plan (NIP) to include second-generation effects and public education.

✅4. Issue a Public Health and Environmental Hazard Alert

She can advise that the lack of recognition of intergenerational harm violates precautionary and protective principles, and publicly acknowledge that the issue needs urgent scientific and policy attention.

✅5. Escalate the Matter Internationally

If Australia continues to breach its obligations:

• She can refer it to UNEP or the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the Stockholm Convention.

• This could lead to international pressure, compliance reviews, or support for investigations or sanctions.

✅6. Respond to You Formally (Legally Required)

Under Australian administrative law, she is required to:

• Respond to your complaint, especially when legal breaches and human rights impacts are raised.

• Justify Australia’s position regarding TCDD and second-generation harm, or take corrective action.

If she fails to act, that itself becomes part of your ICC and UN case—a record of Australia’s continued non-compliance and refusal to protect victims of a known toxicant.

Subject: Australia’s Breach of Stockholm Convention Obligations – TCDD (Agent Orange) & Second-Generation Harm

Dear Ms. Burgess,

Australia is in breach of its binding obligations under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, specifically regarding TCDD (2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin), the highly toxic contaminant found in Agent Orange.

Under this Convention, Australia is required to:

Protect human health from the impact of persistent organic pollutants, including intergenerational transmission.

Monitor and report harms caused by TCDD and take appropriate action to reduce exposure.

Adopt precautionary principles and respond to known and suspected harms with transparency.

Inform and protect vulnerable groups, including unborn children and second-generation victims.

Australia has failed on all of these points. There is no national registry, investigation, support, or acknowledgment of second-generation exposure to TCDD. The Department of Veterans’ Affairs and other agencies continue to deny the existence of these harms despite decades of global evidence.

Australia has now been warned

10 times by the United Nations

Multiple UN treaty bodies—including the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and the CRPD—have repeatedly warned Australia about its ongoing violations of international law, including the failure to protect second-generation victims of TCDD exposure and the lack of redress mechanisms. These warnings remain unaddressed.

I am one of those victims.

I was born in 1974 to a Vietnam veteran who served from December 1969 to December 1970. I have 19 confirmed medical conditions, many from birth, including peripheral neuropathy, multiple system nerve damage, spinal malformations, and immune and neurological disorders.

These are consistent with second-generation dioxin exposure and supported by extensive international scientific research, which I have compiled publicly on my advocacy and evidence website:

👉https://agentorangechild.wixsite.com/agent-orange-child

My case has been ignored, dismissed, or redirected repeatedly. I now have six separate responses from the Prime Minister’s Office – all of which have been sent back to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, despite their repeated failure to acknowledge second-generation harm. No department has addressed the international legal breaches or the failures under the Stockholm Convention.

I will be lodging a formal case with the

International Criminal Court (ICC)

on

1 July 2025

This case will document Australia’s systematic denial, medical neglect, and failure to act, resulting in gross violations of the rights of second-generation survivors of TCDD exposure.

I am requesting that:

Your office formally investigate this as a breach of the Stockholm Convention and Australia’s environmental health obligations.

You refer this matter to the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention and acknowledge that TCDD-related intergenerational harm is an issue of ongoing concern.

You provide a written response explaining what action the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water will take to investigate and address this breach.

I am ready to provide further documentation and evidence, including UN communications, medical records, expert reports, and the full legal case I will be submitting to the ICC.

Warm Agent Orange Burns regards,