A Human Rights Act is a legislated set of economic, social, civil and political rights that benefit the whole community. They help prevent human rights violations, provide a powerful tool to challenge injustice, and build broader and deeper understanding and respect for human rights – including in government and how it legislates and operates.
What benefits all has even greater importance for marginalised communities and people that need more support, including children, people with disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, older Australians, and multicultural communities.
A legislated Act or Charter is currently in operation on the state level in Victoria, Queensland, and the ACT. 101 examples of how those state and territory Acts have helped people can be viewed on our website at https://www.humanrightsact.org.au/101-cases
The campaign for an Act has the support of 150 groups as diverse as Australian Council of Social Services, Amnesty International, Australian Services Union, People With Disability Australia, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service, St Vincent de Paul Society, Human Rights Law Centre, Anglicare Australia, Federation of Ethnic Communities Council of Australia, and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation. A full list of endorsements to date is here: https://www.humanrightsact.org.au/
An Act should be broad in the rights it upholds, from civil and political rights to economic, social, cultural rights, and the right to a healthy environment.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Act can be viewed here: https://www.humanrightsact.org.au/resources/2020/2/7/faqs-j9w8c
An Act empowers people whose rights are not being respected to take action, and providing the core human rights standard for public services, policies, decisions and laws to adhere to that ensures all people are treated with fairness, dignity and equality.
For these reasons, I invite you to join me in supporting an Australian Human Rights Act at https://www.humanrightsact.org.au/
Factsheets
You can find a range of factsheets on how a Human Rights Act benefits specific issues and parts of our community by clicking on this link.
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