• Attorney General's Department

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21 April 2010This report outlines a range of measures to further protect and promote human rights in Australia. It acts on the key recommendations of the National Human Rights Consultation Committee and complements a number of actions the government is already taking to encourage greater inclusion and participation in our community.

The Framework is based on five key principles and focuses on:

•    reaffirming a commitment to our human rights obligations;
•    the importance of human rights education;
•    enhancing our domestic and international engagement on human rights issues;
•    improving human rights protections including greater parliamentary scrutiny; and
•    achieving greater respect for human rights principles within the community.

Specifically, the Framework includes a number of key commitments, including:

•    investing over $12 million in a comprehensive suite of education initiatives to promote a greater understanding of human rights across the community;
•    establishing a new Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights to provide greater scrutiny of legislation for compliance with our international human rights obligations;
•    requiring that each new Bill introduced into Parliament is accompanied by a statement of compatibility with our international human rights obligations;
•    combining federal anti-discrimination laws into a single Act to remove unnecessary regulatory overlap and make the system more user-friendly; and
•    creating an annual NGO Human Rights Forum to enable comprehensive engagement with non-government organisations on human rights matters.

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