The Republic of Nauru, a South Pacific island, has a parliamentary, democratic legislature. Elections in 2004 were deemed generally free and fair. Parliament elects one of its members to be President, who is both head of state and head of government. Periodic, free and fair elections are held on the basis of universal suffrage and mandatory voting. The 18-member Parliament contains no women, though women hold senior civil service positions.

Discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, language or social status is prohibited, and the law is observed. The judiciary is independent.

The High Court of Australia may review criminal and civil cases. Since 2002 Australian authorities have detained asylum-seekers in Nauru, and human rights advocates claim this is a violation of the constitutions of Nauru and Australia. Courts in both countries have ruled the detention is legal. An agreement with Australian police provides training for Nauruan police. The government has taken steps to combat corruption.

The closure of phosphate mines resulted in a rapid descent from wealth to poverty. Development of offshore financial services led to charges of money-laundering, and an OECD investigation placed Nauru on a list of non-cooperative countries, a move that shut down its offshore banking.

Access to government information is not provided in law or in practice. Freedom of speech and of the press are guaranteed, and Internet access is not restricted.

Education is compulsory to age 16. A truancy rate of some 60% in some schools is a cause for concern. The closure of the phosphate mines left unemployed foreign workers unable to provide education for their children, even though it was of a lesser quality than that provided to citizens. Many children do not complete secondary school.

A 3-year programme begins at age 3. All 49 ECE teachers are women. The pupil/teacher ratio (PTR) is 13 : 1.

Education is compulsory for ages 5 to 16 years. Primary school begins at age 6 and lasts 6 years. 47% of students are girls. The Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) is 84%. Of students who enrol in Grade 1, only 25% reach the last grade of primary school. There are 63 primary teachers (95% female). The PTR is 22 : 1.

Secondary education begins at age 12 and lasts 6 years. The GER is 59% in lower secondary and 9% in upper secondary school. There are 34 secondary teachers (53% female). The PTR is 19 : 1 in secondary school.

1 student studies overseas, in the UK.

The state has not mandated the provision of services to disabled persons. The economic crisis has lessened the funding provided for education and for health care, so disabled children have less access to both services. No formal support is given to people with mental disabilities. In a report to the UN it was noted that only some 2% to 5% of children with disabilities have access to school.

Nauru is not a party to the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the government does not accept refugees for resettlement or asylum. The government cooperates with the Office of the UNHCR. From 2000, Nauru hosted 2 refugee processing and detention centres funded by Australia and operated by the International Organisation for Migration. Some 1,200 refugees were processed in Nauru. The Australian government has closed the centre and, at the time of writing, evicted from it 2 asylum-seekers.

Concerns were raised about conditions in the centre. The UNHCR helped resettle some refugees in countries other than Nauru, though 93 children under 12 were detained in Nauru. 2 intellectually disabled children were detained for 4 years and then, following their release, reportedly required hospital treatment.

Ethnic Chinese make up 5% to 8% of the population. They have been targets of racially motivated attacks, Unemployed workers and their families from Tuvalu and Kiribati, who stayed in the country following the closing of the phosphate mines, are reported to have experienced discrimination.

No restrictions of academic freedom are reported.

Women have the same rights as men in law, but social discrimination limits opportunities for women to exercise their rights. Girls have equal access and opportunity in education, and women can own property.

Domestic violence is regarded as a private matter, and charges are rarely brought before the justice system. Sexual harassment is a crime but is not reported as a serious problem.

The minimum age for employment is 17. Employers in the formal sector respect the law on child labour. Children under 17 work in family businesses.

Workers have the right to form and join trade unions, but no trade unions exist in the country. The impact of a foreign work force with limited rights made organising a union very difficult. Collective bargaining does not take place, and the right to strike is not dealt with in law. Forced or compulsory labour is prohibited, and there are no reports that such labour occurs. Salaries and conditions of work for civil servants are set in public service regulations.

All civil servants and parliamentarians are paid a salary of US$105 (A$140) every second week. Reports indicate that the wage does not allow a decent standard of living for a worker and family. The current salary is a reduction for workers, though prior to the implementation of the new wage public sector salaries went unpaid for months. The work week, in both public and private sectors, is 36 hours for office workers and 40 hours for manual labourers.

Foreign workers stranded in Nauru with the mine closures are owed wages. The government provided a stipend of US$37 ($A50) every 2 weeks to those foreign workers; at the time of writing, the government of Taiwan has agreed to finance repatriation of the workers to Tuvalu and Kiribati.