Let’s talk about rights - A toolkit to help individuals and groups participate in the Australian Government’s National Human Rights Consultation (2009)

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Let’s talk about rights

A toolkit
to help individuals and groups participate in the Australian Government’s
National Human Rights Consultation

2009

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• Word document
• PDF download

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Contents

• 1 About this toolkit
• 2 About the National Human Rights Consultation
• 3 How can I have my say in the National Human Rights Consultation?
• 4 About the Australian Human Rights Commission
• 5 What are human rights?
• 6 How are human rights relevant to me?
• 7 How are human rights protected in Australia?
• 8 Are current human rights protections in Australia strong enough?
• 9 How could we improve human rights protections in Australia?
• 10 How could a Human Rights Act make a difference?
  • 10.1 How would a Human Rights Act work?
  • 10.2 Has a Human Rights Act made a difference elsewhere?
• 11 Where can I find out more?
• Appendix A: Write a submission to the National Human Rights Consultation
  • 1 Why should I make a submission?
  • 2 Writing a submission – some tips
  • 3 What questions should my submission answer?

1 About
this toolkit

This toolkit, produced by the Australian Human Rights Commission (the
Commission) is designed to help individuals and groups in the Australian
community who wish to participate in the Australian Government’s National
Human Rights Consultation.

The consultation is an opportunity for everyone in Australia to tell
the government what they think about human rights and how they think human
rights should be protected in our country.

We hope that this toolkit will encourage you to take part in the consultation
and will give you some of the information that you might need. It will help you
answer the following questions:

• What are human rights?
• How are human rights relevant to me?
• How are human rights protected in Australia?
• Are current human rights protections in Australia strong enough?
• How could we improve human rights protections in Australia?
• How could a Human Rights Act make a difference?
• How can I have my say in the National Human Rights
  Consultation?

This toolkit is accompanied by a series of information
sheets about how human rights protections could be improved in particular areas.
Together with the information in this toolkit, they are designed to assist you
to make a submission about the human rights issues that you feel most strongly
about. The information sheets cover the following topics:

• Human rights and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
• Human rights and asylum seekers and refugees
• Human rights and children and young people
• Human rights and counter terrorism laws
• Human rights and faith-based communities
• Human rights and gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex
  people
• Human rights and housing and homelessness
• Human rights and people from culturally and linguistically diverse
  backgrounds
• Human rights and people with a disability
• Human rights and older people
• Human rights and women
• A Human Rights Act for Australia: commonly asked questions.

2 About
the National Human Rights Consultation

During the first half of 2009, the Australian Government will ask everyone in
Australia what they think about human rights through the National Human Rights
Consultation.

The consultation will be conducted by an independent Committee headed by
Father Frank Brennan, a Jesuit priest and lawyer. Father Brennan will be
assisted by Mary Kostakidis (a former television news presenter), Tammy Williams
(an Indigenous barrister) and Mick Palmer (a former Australian Federal Police
Commissioner).

The Committee will ask the Australian community three questions:

• Which human rights (including corresponding responsibilities) should be
  protected and promoted?
• Are these human rights currently sufficiently protected and promoted?
• How could Australia better protect and promote human rights?

The
Committee is expected to report to the government by 31 August 2009.

The Committee wants members of the public to make submissions so that it can
report what people in Australia really think about protecting human rights.
Submissions can be made online or can be mailed to the Committee.

For full details about the National Human Rights Consultation, including how
to make a submission, visit the consultation website: www.humanrightsconsultation.gov.au.

3 How can I have my say
in the National Human Rights Consultation?

There are many ways you could take part in the National Human Rights
Consultation. For example, you could:

• write a submission on behalf of yourself or your organisation. You can make
  an online submission at www.humanrightsconsultation.gov.au,
  or you can mail your submission to:

  National Human Rights
  Consultation Secretariat
  
  Attorney-General's Department
  
  Central
  Office
  
  Robert Garran Offices
  
  National Circuit
  
  BARTON ACT 2600

• talk to your friends, family and colleagues and encourage them to write a
  submission
• run a workshop with your clients/service users or member organisations and
  encourage them to write a submission
• attend one of the consultation community forums (a schedule is available on
  the consultation website – www.humanrightsconsultation.gov.au)
• join the Commission’s email list to keep informed about events –
  visit www.humanrights.gov.au/letstalkaboutrights
• check out the Commission’s resources for children and young people to
  get involved in the consultation – visit www.humanrights.gov.au/letstalkaboutrights
• join the Australian Human Rights Group – see www.humanrightsact.com.au/ahrg.

4 About the Australian
Human Rights Commission

The Australian Human Rights Commission is an independent statutory body. Part
of our job is to help build a human rights culture in Australia where the human
dignity of all people is respected. We do this by running national inquiries,
handling complaints about discrimination and certain human rights breaches,
helping with public education and awareness-raising, and occasionally appearing
in court cases that involve human rights issues.

We hope that as many people as possible will take part in the National Human
Rights Consultation so that the Australian Government gets a real sense of what
people in Australia think about human rights and how they want their rights to
be protected.

We think that human rights will be best protected if the Australian
Parliament enacts a comprehensive Human Rights Act. So we are encouraging people
to make a submission to the National Human Rights Consultation in support of a
Human Rights Act for Australia.

However, we know that there are a wide range of ideas about how to improve
the protection and promotion of human rights in Australia. The toolkit therefore
also explains some of the other options for protecting human rights in
Australia. No matter what your views are, we encourage you to share them
during the consultation and tell your human rights story.

For more information about the Australian Human Rights Commission, visit the
Commission’s website at www.humanrights.gov.au.

5 What
are human rights?

Human rights are important for everyone, everywhere, every day. Human rights
are about basic values such as dignity, freedom and equality.

These basic values are essential for promoting an inclusive society in which
all people in Australia can freely participate. Human rights are about creating
and maintaining an environment of mutual respect and understanding.

Human rights
are written down in international agreements called ‘conventions’,
‘covenants’ and ‘treaties’. These agreements are made by national governments. They reflect international
agreement about what human rights are, and how they should be protected and
promoted.

The first attempt to develop a complete statement of human rights was made in
1948 in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Australia was involved in drafting this
important document. The Universal Declaration is still the most important
international statement of the fundamental values of equality, dignity and
freedom.

In addition to the Universal Declaration, human rights are set out in two
core agreements, both of which Australia has signed. They are the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). All Australians are entitled to enjoy
the human rights described in these documents.

The human rights set out in the ICESCR include rights such as:

• your right to live with your family
• your right to work and to be treated fairly at work
• your right to form and join a trade union
• your right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food,
  clothing and housing
• your right to access appropriate health care
• your right to a basic education
• your right to maintain your culture and language
• your right to access services regardless of your race, gender, age or
  disability.

The human rights set out in the ICCPR include rights such as your right to:

• your right to life
• your right to be free from torture and other cruel or degrading
  treatment
• your right to be free from slavery and forced labour
• your right to liberty and to be free from arbitrary arrest or detention
• your right to be treated with humanity if you are deprived of your
  liberty
• your right to freedom of movement
• your right to be treated equally by the courts, to be presumed innocent
  until proven guilty and to be tried without delay
• your right to privacy
• your right to think what you like and to practise any religion
• your right to say what you like (without inciting hatred or violence)
• your right to vote and to participate in public affairs
• your right to be treated equally by the law.

Australia has also
signed up to other international human rights agreements, including:

• Convention on the
  Rights of the Child
• Convention on the
  Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
• International
  Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
• Convention on
  the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
• Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
  Degrading Treatment or Punishment
• International
  Labour Organisation Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention ILO
  111 (which prohibits discrimination in employment).

These
treaties set out more specific rights which may be relevant to you and/or the
people you work with.

Certain human rights are absolute. For example, under the ICCPR some rights
such as the right to life and freedom from torture should not be breached in any
circumstances. These are known as ‘non-derogable’ rights.

However, most human rights can be limited in certain circumstances, provided
that the restrictions are necessary and are a proportionate way of achieving a
legitimate purpose. This allows for different rights to be balanced against each
other if they conflict – for example, one person’s right to free
speech might need to be balanced against another person’s right to be free
from discrimination. It also allows human rights to be limited when necessary
– for example, to deal with a state of public emergency.

6 How are human rights
relevant to me?

Many of us feel that Australia is a pretty safe place. Most of us don’t
suffer the terrible poverty witnessed in some parts of the world, our judicial
system works well by international standards, and most of us can vote in
elections by secret ballot. We can say what we like most of the time, practise
our religion in peace most of the time, and most of us have access to decent
education and health services. So, why should protecting human rights matter to
us?

First, all the things we have just described are human rights! So if you
think that those things are important, then protecting human rights should be
important to you.

Second, everyone in Australia should be able to enjoy their human rights.
There may be times in all of our lives when we might find ourselves or people we
know in a situation where our human rights are not respected. So we need a
safety net for when things don’t go as planned.

Third, even if you feel that that you personally have not had your human
rights violated, you may wish to live in an inclusive and fair society, where
instances of human rights violations are prevented as much as possible.

Unfortunately, not everyone’s human rights are respected. Some people
are more likely than the rest of us to experience human rights problems.

For example,

• all of us should have access to appropriate education and appropriate health
  and mental health care, no matter where we live – but some of us have
  better access to good schools, hospitals, doctors and mental health facilities
  than others
• all of us should have water, food and adequate housing – but this can
  be harder if we live in a remote community, and many homeless Australians
  don’t have these things
• all our children should be safe at school – but children are still
  bullied
• people living in aged care homes should be treated in a way that respects
  their dignity – but some of us don’t have a choice about where our
  elderly relatives end up and often we can’t do much if they are poorly
  treated
• everyone who uses a wheelchair should be able to use public transport and
  enter the same buildings as everyone else – but lots of buses, train
  stations and government buildings are still inaccessible
• we should all be treated with respect by government officials – but
  sometimes people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds feel
  like they don’t receive this respect when dealing with public servants and
  agencies.

These scenarios apply to many of us, to our families and
to the people we work with. Human rights matter to us all.

This toolkit includes separate information sheets discussing the human rights
issues facing some of those especially vulnerable groups, including:

• Indigenous peoples
• people with a disability
• women
• people of different races and cultures
• children and young people
• people who are homeless
• people deprived of their liberty
• gay and lesbian people
• refugees and asylum seekers.

Some examples of recent human
rights problems facing these groups of people include:

• Indigenous children in the Northern Territory are three times more likely to
  die under the age of one than all other children in Australia
• on average, women working full-time earn 16 percent less than men in
  Australia
• every night around 105,000 people in Australia are homeless
• one in every two people requesting accommodation from a homeless service is
  turned away every day
• some families seeking asylum in Australia were detained in immigration
  detention centres for more than three years; one child was detained for almost
  five and a half years.

All of us, at some time in our lives, might
need to seek protection for our human rights to ensure we get treated fairly and
equally.

7 How
are human rights protected in Australia?

Most Australians would be surprised to learn that in our country there are
very few legal protections of human rights.

What human rights protections do we have now?

• A few human rights are protected by the Australian Constitution,
  including
  • the right to vote
  • the right to trial by jury for some offences
  • limited protection of freedom of religion
  • an implied right of political communication.
• Some federal and state laws prohibit discrimination on certain grounds
  including race, sex, age and disability.
• Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory have Human Rights Acts.
• A range of other laws offer some protection of specific rights, for example
  laws about evidence and procedure in court cases, or laws about child
  protection.
• Some common law protections have been established in cases decided by the
  courts, for example the right to a fair trial.
• Some rights (such as housing, education and health) are not legally
  protected but are at least partly implemented through policy or services.
• There are also laws to protect your privacy at the federal and state
  level.

8 Are current human
rights protections in Australia strong enough?

Some people argue that our strong democratic tradition and the independence
of the courts are sufficient to ensure that our human rights are protected. But
democracy doesn’t always work quickly enough to stop human rights
breaches, or to help people whose rights have been breached. Sometimes,
especially in times of perceived emergency, governments either disregard or fail
to consider the human rights implications of new laws or policies in ways that
everyone subsequently regrets.

Compared to the human rights standards that Australia has agreed to
internationally, there are many gaps in protection under Australian laws.

Did you know?

• The government can make laws that breach human rights
  • laws requiring the mandatory detention of asylum seekers who arrive
    without a visa have breached the right to be free from arbitrary detention
  • our government has passed laws that discriminate on the basis of
    race – for example the Northern Territory intervention
    legislation.
• Sometimes not having a law can breach human rights
  • there is insufficient legal protection against discrimination on
    the basis of sexuality
  • there are no laws requiring paid maternity or parental leave for
    all employees.
• Governments do not always consider the needs of the most vulnerable
  people in society when developing policy
  • policy development should always consider the needs of those who
    are most vulnerable – for example, government policies about education,
    health, and housing would be considerably improved if they were developed with
    human rights in mind.
• Sometimes public authorities breach human rights
  • people in immigration detention have been subject to inhuman and
    degrading treatment.
• Sometimes there is no effective solution to a human rights breach
  • for example, if someone can prove that they have been discriminated
    against in employment because of their criminal record, trade union membership,
    or sexuality, they may not be able to do much about it – they can make a
    complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission, but the employer cannot be
    required to change its behaviour.

Without comprehensive
legal protection of human rights, our government is not obliged to make sure
that the human rights of all Australians are respected, promoted and
protected.

9 How could we improve
human rights protections in Australia?

The Australian Government’s National Human Rights Consultation is not
promoting any particular way of protecting human rights. The Committee is
interested in hearing about a wide range of ideas.

There are many ways in which human rights could be better protected in
Australia. Some options include:

• enhanced protection of human rights in the Australian Constitution
• creating new parliamentary processes to make sure that new laws comply with
  human rights
• requiring government departments to consider and respect human rights when
  they develop policy and make decisions
• developing a National Human Rights Action Plan backed up by sufficient
  resources and a commitment to improve human rights protections
• enacting specific laws, for example, a law setting out how people in
  immigration detention should be treated or a law requiring paid maternity or
  parental leave
• developing specific national programs to prevent or address specific issues;
  for example about violence against women and girls
• implementing a national public education program about human rights
• incorporating human rights into a national curriculum
• implementing specific ideas to protect and promote the rights of Indigenous
  peoples; for example, making sure that Australian laws do not discriminate on
  the basis of race
• strengthening the role of the Australian Human Rights Commission; for
  example, expanding the types of complaints the Commission can receive, enhancing
  the capacity of the Commission to undertake consultations, research and
  educational activities, or requiring the Australian Government to table a report
  in Parliament explaining how it intends to respond to the Commission’s
  recommendations.

The Australian Human Rights Commission believes
that currently the best way to protect human rights is through the enactment by
the Australian Parliament of a Human Rights Act – a national law setting
out the human rights of all people in Australia.

The Commission believes that the options set out above would make a positive
difference – but we believe that they should either be a part of or in
addition to, rather than instead of, a comprehensive Human Rights Act for
Australia.

A Human Rights Act would provide the most comprehensive framework for
protecting human rights in Australia. It could provide a firm foundation, and
the inspiration, for the development of many other initiatives to protect human
rights. Over the longer term, a Human Rights Act would also be a powerful tool
for fostering a stronger human rights culture in Australia by promoting greater
understanding and respect among all people in Australia.

10 How
could a Human Rights Act make a difference?

A Human Rights Act would be a national law setting out the fundamental human
rights that are universally accepted around the world as deserving of protection.

A Human Rights Act would improve the protection and promotion of human rights
in Australia because it would:

• recognise and protect the human rights of all people in Australia
• ensure that human rights are respected by our government
• improve government policy and decision making – the government would
  need to consider human rights when drafting laws, developing policy and
  delivering services
• protect economically and socially vulnerable people who are more likely than
  others in Australia to have their human rights breached
• be an important practical tool for advocates of those facing discrimination,
  disadvantage or exclusion
• ensure that human rights complaints can be considered in Australia before
  they go to United Nations human rights committees
• bring Australia into line with other countries – Australia will no
  longer be the only Western democracy without a national law protecting human
  rights
• help Australia meet its obligations under the United Nations treaties we have
  promised to uphold
• help all Australians become more aware of their rights and the rights of
  others, and help build a culture of respect for human rights in
  Australia.

Human rights consultations have been held in recent years
in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Victoria, Western Australia and
Tasmania. In these consultations, the overwhelming number of people who made
submissions said they wanted better legal protection of human rights. A law
similar to a Human Rights Act has since been introduced in both the ACT and
Victoria.

10.1 How
would a Human Rights Act work?

A Human Rights Act would be a national law setting out how the Australian
government and legal system will protect the human rights of all people in
Australia. A Human Rights Act could do some or all of the following:

• Ensure that all new federal laws are put through a ‘human rights
  test’ by
  • requiring that each bill introduced into federal Parliament is
    accompanied by a human rights compatibility statement
  • requiring Parliament to look at each bill to make sure it protects
    the rights set out in the Human Rights Act (this could be carried out by a
    special Parliamentary Human Rights Committee)
  • requiring Parliament to publicly explain a decision to adopt a law
    that is inconsistent with the Human Rights Act.
• Ensure that the Australian Government considers the human rights
  implications of its policy decisions by requiring that all cabinet submissions
  be accompanied by a Human Rights Impact Assessment.
• Ensure that all federal public authorities (for example Centrelink, the
  Australian Taxation Office and Medicare) respect the human rights set out in the
  Human Rights Act by:
  • requiring them to respect human rights when they make decisions and
    set policies
  • requiring them to prepare internal Human Rights Action Plans
  • requiring them to report annually on compliance with the Human
    Rights Act.
• Provide for transparent reviews of federal laws to determine whether they
  are consistent with the rights set out in the Human Rights Act by
  • giving federal courts the power to issue a ‘declaration of
    incompatibility’ when they find that a law is inconsistent with human
    rights
  • requiring that all declarations of incompatibility be tabled in
    federal Parliament
  • requiring Parliament to consider whether the law in question should
    be changed to make it consistent with the rights set out in the HRA
  • requiring Parliament to publicly explain its decision if it decides
    not to change a law to make it consistent with rights set out in the
    HRA.
• Ensure that federal courts and tribunals interpret legislation, as far as
  possible, in a manner that is consistent with the human rights in the Human
  Rights Act.
• Provide individuals whose human rights under the Human Rights Act have been
  breached with access to remedies, which might include
  • internal complaint handling mechanisms within federal public
    authorities
  • conciliation of complaints regarding human rights breaches
  • legal remedies such as an injunction or declaration
  • a cause of action in the courts
  • the right to seek reparations, including compensation where
    necessary and appropriate.

10.2 Has a Human
Rights Act made a difference elsewhere?

Yes. There is a Human Rights Act in the ACT, Victoria and the United Kingdom,
amongst many other places. A Human Rights Act can be used to advocate for better
outcomes for vulnerable people. One of the most important impacts of the Human
Rights Acts in those three places is that it has helped to prevent human
rights problems from happening in the first place.

For example, the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities is
starting to make a real difference to people’s lives.

• A rehabilitation centre operating as part of a public hospital was seeking
  to discharge several young people with acquired brain injuries because their
  contract to care for them had expired. The only alternative care was in an aged
  care facility which would not provide the appropriate social environment or
  support services. A disability advocate raised the Victorian Charter and the
  rehabilitation centre agreed not to move the young people until it had
  considered its obligations under the Charter.
• A pregnant single mother with two children was living in community housing.
  She was given an eviction notice without providing any reasons for the eviction
  or an opportunity to address the landlord’s concerns. The Victorian
  Charter was used to negotiate with her landlord to prevent an eviction into
  homelessness and to reach an alternative agreement.

There are many
examples from the UK where bad decisions made by public authorities have been
challenged on human rights grounds. In many cases, a better decision has been
made which respects the human rights of the individual, without the matter
having to go to court.

• In one example, an elderly couple in the UK that had been married for 65
  years were split up by a local authority when the man had to be moved into
  residential care. The man was unable to walk without the assistance of his wife
  who was blind. She was not allowed to join her husband in the
  residential care facility as she did not satisfy the criteria for admission.
  Advocates argued that the original decision violated the couple’s right to
  respect for family life. The authority ultimately agreed to reverse their
  decision and offer the wife a subsidised place with her husband.

11 Where
can I find out more?

For more detailed information about human rights generally, visit the
Commission’s website at www.humanrights.gov.au

For more information about a Human Rights Act for Australia, see Human
rights - what do I need to know? at www.humanrights.gov.au/letstalkaboutrights/info.

You might also like to have a look at:

• The Australian Government’s National Human Rights Consultation
  website

www.humanrightsconsultation.gov.au

• The Australian Human Rights Commission’s website on the National Human
  Rights Consultation
  

www.humanrights.gov.au/letstalkaboutrights

• The Australian Human Rights Group website

www.humanrightsact.com.au/ahrg

• The Gilbert + Tobin Centre for Public Law

www.gtcentre.unsw.edu.au/resources/charterofhumanrights

• Human Rights Law Resource Centre

www.hrlrc.org.au

• Public Interest Advocacy Centre

www.piac.asn.au/publications/hrkit

 

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Appendix A: Write a
submission to the National Human Rights
Consultation

1 Why
should I make a submission?

Writing a submission to the National Human Rights Consultation is your
opportunity to tell the Australian Government about your human rights
experience, why you think human rights are important and how you think human
rights should be protected in Australia.

2 Writing a submission
– some tips

The Commission’s experience in conducting inquiries is that the
strongest submissions will be those that draw on personal or organisational
experience and that provide concrete examples – both of situations where
human rights were breached and of ideas about what might have made a difference,
including a Human Rights Act.

A submission should therefore be based on your personal experience, or the
experience of your organisation.

As far as possible, include the stories of real people.

Focus your submission on the issues that you know the most about. For
example, if your organisation works with people with a disability, comment on
the human rights issues that most affect your clients.

3 What
questions should my submission answer?

The three key questions being asked as part of the National Human Rights
Consultation are:

• Which human rights and responsibilities should be protected and
  promoted?
• Are human rights sufficiently protected and promoted?
• How could Australia better protect and promote human
  rights?

If you would like to make a submission that supports a
Human Rights Act for Australia, you may wish to address the following questions
in your submission. These questions are suggestions – you do not need to
answer all of the questions in this list to make a submission.

Which human rights and responsibilities should be protected and
promoted?

• Who am I? What is my organisation and who do we represent?
• What is the full picture of the issues facing me or the people I work with?
  Remember that human rights are interconnected so often when people experience a
  problem with one human right many other rights are also threatened. For example,
  if you are homeless it is clear your right to adequate housing has been breached
  but think about other human rights which this affects (the right to education,
  the right to the highest standard of physical and mental health, and/or the
  right to the protection of your family?)
• Why do I think human rights are important?
• Which human rights do I think should be protected and promoted in Australia?
  What are the most immediate issues in my life or the lives of the people I work with? For
  example, is it the right to vote or the right to security of person
  (safety)?

Are human rights sufficiently protected and
promoted?

• What is my experience of human rights in Australia? Have I witnessed or
  heard about what I think is a human rights problem in Australia?
  • What happened?
  • What was the impact on me/the people involved?
  • What do I think should have happened in this
    situation?
• Do I live in a community where there are human rights problems, for example,
  limited access to education or healthcare? What would make a difference to my
  community?
• Do I know of situations where there has been no effective solution to a
  human rights problem?
• Are there laws or policies which affect my life (or people I know) but that
  don’t seem to match up with their human rights?
• What would be the difference in my life (or people I know) if human rights
  were better protected and promoted?

How could Australia better
protect and promote human rights?

• Do I think that human rights should be comprehensively protected by law in
  Australia? Do I think Australia should have a Human Rights Act? What are the
  main reasons why I think a Human Rights Act would make a positive difference in
  Australia?
• What other ideas do I have about how Australian laws and policies could be
  changed to better protect and promote human rights? Some possible examples:
  • creating new parliamentary processes to make sure that all new laws
    pass the human rights test
  • requiring government departments to consider and respect human
    rights when they develop policy and make decisions
  • a National Human Rights Action Plan backed up by sufficient
    resources and a commitment to improve human rights protections
  • specific laws, for example, a law setting out how people in
    immigration detention should be treated
  • specific education programs, for example about domestic
    violence
  • a national public education program about human rights
  • incorporating human rights into a national curriculum
  • specific ideas to protect and promote the rights of Indigenous
    peoples, for example making sure that Australian laws do not discriminate on the
    basis of race
  • a stronger role for the Australian Human Rights
    Commission.
• If you think that Australia should have a Human Rights Act, what are your
  ideas about how this law should work?
  • Should a Human Rights Act require our Parliament to think more
    about human rights when they make new laws?
  • Should a Human Rights Act require government departments to think
    more about human rights when they develop policies or deliver services?
  • Should courts be able to declare that a law is inconsistent with
    the Human Rights Act?
  • Should a court be able to hear and determine complaints about
    breaches of human rights?
    • Should a court be able to determine what is an effective solution
      if it finds that there is a breach of human rights (for example, an apology, a
      declaration that human rights have been breached, an order that the practice or
      conduct that caused the human rights breach is stopped, and/or
      compensation)
• If Australia does adopt a Human Rights Act, what should happen next?
  • What kind of education campaign should accompany a Human Rights
    Act?
  • Should there be a review of a Human Rights Act after a certain
    period of time?