Australia's constitutional, legislative and policy framework
Learn about Australia's progress on a national human rights framework and education.
Summary
- Significant national inquiries have set out what needs to be done to improve human rights outcomes across the Australia.
- There are many gaps in the protection of human rights in Australian law. While Australia has agreed to protect human rights set out in United Nations treaties, we have not properly translated those international commitments into our own national laws.
- A Human Rights Act will protect the rights of all Australians, promote better understanding of those rights and give people the power to take action if their rights are breached.
- The Australian Government should reform discrimination laws to ensure comprehensive protection and improved effectiveness.
- There is a pressing need for human rights education, especially for public servants and to build understanding of human rights among the community.
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Australia's constitutional, legislative and policy framework
This fact sheet provides information on issues raised in the report card as well as findings from a range of reports and submissions made by the Commission over the past 12 months.
Constitutional, Legislative and Policy Framework
Democratic freedoms | Recent human rights advances
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights (PJCHR) inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights Framework and the Commission’s Free and Equal report identified actions to fully protect human rights in Australia, with a focus on strengthening institutional protections.
Since 2021 there have been a number of significant national inquiries that set out what needs to be done to improve human rights outcomes across the country. In particular, the Commission notes the national human rights reform agenda that it has set out in the Free and Equal project (see further below). This project informed the recommendations of the Australian Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights (PJCHR) calling for a new national human rights framework.
In 2023, the federal Attorney-General referred an inquiry to the PJCHR to consider a new Australian Human Rights Framework. The PJCHR reported in May 2024, making 17 recommendations to improve human rights in Australia.xii
Recommendation 1 of the PJCHR substantially endorsed the recommendations of the Commission for a new national human rights framework and recommended the adoption of a Human Rights Act based on the Commission’s model.
The Australian Government has not yet responded to the recommendations of the Commission’s Free and Equal project reports and the report of the PJCHR.
Human Rights Framework
Democratic freedoms | Urgent human rights issues
Australia continues to lack comprehensive human rights protections. Reforms proposed by the PJCHR report and the Commission’s Free & Equal report have not been implemented. Priority actions include introducing a federal Human Rights Act, improving federal discrimination laws, strengthening the role of Parliament in considering and protecting human rights and introducing a rights tracker to measure progress on human rights.
National Human Rights Act
Australia has an incomplete legal framework for protecting human rights. The Commission and the Australian Parliament’s human rights committee have both recommended a Human Rights Act that would require government to comply with human rights standards.
No matter who we are or where we are, we should all be treated with dignity and respect and be able to live well. Human rights provide the roadmap to achieving this and creating the kind of society we all want to live in.
There are many gaps in the protection of human rights in Australian law. While Australia has agreed to protect human rights set out in United Nations treaties, we have not properly translated those international commitments into our own national laws.
A Human Rights Act will help to address this. A Human Rights Act will protect the rights of all Australians, promote better understanding of those rights and give people the power to take action if their rights are breached.
There are human rights acts in:
- Victoria
- Queensland
- the Australian Capital Territory
and in similar nations like New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom. They have all had proven positive impacts.
The Commission has proposed a model for a Human Rights Act. The Australian Parliament’s human rights committee drew heavily on this model when it recommended a Human Rights Act in its Inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights framework in 2024.
It would apply to bodies like:
- government departments
- ministers
- public servants
- Australian Federal Police
- Centrelink
- Medicare
- National Disability Insurance Agency.
It wouldn’t apply to state and territory government bodies.
A Human Rights Act will require governments and public servants to properly consider and act compatibly with human rights when making decisions, delivering services and developing laws and policies.
To make sure governments take human rights seriously, it is important to give people the power to take action if their rights are breached. Under our model, this will happen efficiently by the person raising the issue directly with government body or with the Commission for conciliation. But if it cannot be resolved at that level, people will have the power to take action in court.
Our model Human Rights Act will be normal legislation passed by the Australian Parliament. The Parliament will be able to change the Human Rights Act in the future if it decides to.
Requiring governments to think about people’s rights before they act fosters a better understanding of rights and builds a culture that prevents human rights breaches.
To make sure governments take human rights seriously, it is important to give people the power to take action if their rights are breached. Under our model, this will happen efficiently by the person raising the issue directly with government body or with the Commission for conciliation. But if it cannot be resolved at that level, people will have the power to take action in court.
Our model Human Rights Act would be normal legislation passed by the Australian Parliament. The Parliament would be able to change the Human Rights Act in the future if it decides to.
Priority Action
The Australian Government should introduce a national Human Rights Act.
Federal discrimination laws
Australia needs more comprehensive protections against discrimination
Australia’s discrimination laws are complex, do not provide comprehensive protection and lack adequate preventative and regulatory mechanisms. The Commission welcomes reforms to the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) to create a positive duty to prevent sexual harassment and sex discrimination in workplaces. A similar duty should be introduced to prevent sex, age, disability and race discrimination in all areas of public life.
Australia’s federal discrimination laws are outdated and difficult to use. These laws were introduced 20 to 50 years ago and have barely been updated since. The Commission proposes reforms to these laws to:
Priority action
The Australian Government should reform discrimination laws to ensure comprehensive protection and improved effectiveness.
Australia needs a rights measurement framework
How well does Australia protect people’s human rights? Are we moving forward in addressing human rights challenges, or are we going backwards?
To answer these questions and to guide the decisions of government we need better national measurement and tracking of human rights progress and regress. Tracking promotes transparency on human rights and accountability for government on its responsibilities to protect community wellbeing.
The Australian Government should develop a national mechanism to track and periodically report to the nation on how well Australia protects everyone’s human rights.
The Parliamentary Joint Committee of Human Rights (PJCHR)
The Australian PJCHR is mandated to analyse bills and legislative instruments before the federal Parliament for compliance with human rights. The PJCHR has been in place for approximately 12 years and has made an important contribution to the consideration of human rights at the parliamentary level. However, the Commission remains concerned about the quality and consistency of ‘Statements of Compatibility with Human Rights’ that accompany bills.
The Commission is also concerned that there is limited consideration of the views of the PJCHR prior to the passage of legislation. There is also limited human rights education and training for public officials to assist in the preparation of these Statements of Compatibility.
Priority action
The Australian Government ensure that Statements of Compatibility are of a consistently high standard; and ensure that the views of the PJCHR are actively considered prior to enacting legislation.
Human Rights Education
Democratic freedoms | Other priority human rights issues
There is a pressing need for human rights education, especially for public servants and to build understanding of human rights among the community. |
Human rights education is piecemeal and under-resourced with limited references to human rights in the school curriculum, civics education and in training public servants across all levels of government.
Education is one of the most powerful tools for upholding human rights
Human rights education means understanding what human rights are, the impact of human rights breaches and how to take action to uphold human rights. Human rights education must be accessible and wide reaching to create an enduring culture of understanding and respecting human rights in Australia.
A robust national human tights education action plan, grounded in lived experience and developed to meet the needs of learners, would build understanding, transform culture and improve attitudes and actions.
Human rights education should exist in all areas of Australian public life
Human rights education should target key audiences:
- Public servants: who must consider the human impacts of laws, policies, service delivery
- Teachers and students: to build cultures of engagement, respect and safety in schools.
- Workers and employers: to support safe and equal workplaces.
- Law enforcement agencies: whose conduct must accord with human rights principles.
- The general community: to understand their rights and have the skills and confidence to assert them.
Limited funding has constrained the delivery and coordination of human rights education across Australia
Human rights education is a statutory responsibility of the Commission, however specific government funding for human rights education ceased in 2014. Currently, human rights education is scattered and ad hoc across Australia. Increased momentum for civics education across state and federal sectors could provide a vehicle for improved human rights education.
A national human rights education action plan requires coordination and resources to ensure human rights education reaches all people living in Australia.
A national action plan would demonstrate government’s commitment to human rights education through a clear strategy and commitment to adequate funding for its implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
Priority action
The Australian Government should develop a National Human Rights Education Action Plan for public servants, schools, workplaces, law enforcement and the general community.
