Human rights – the basic rights and freedoms applying to all people, regardless of their background or beliefs, is based on principles of dignity, equality and mutual respect. The idea of a ‘fair go’, of a just, fair and egalitarian society, is the idea of human rights.

The Federal Attorney-General tasked this committee with reviewing the scope and effectiveness of Australia’s 2010 Human Rights Framework and 2012 National Human Rights Action Plan. These commitments were made with the aim of improving and promoting human rights in Australia. However, the Framework was largely abandoned following a change in government, with only those commitments that were legislated still remaining (namely the establishment of this committee and the obligation for statements of compatibility with human rights). By failing to legislate an enforceable requirement for government to consider people’s rights when making decisions, policies or laws, the Framework’s aims, while laudable, were largely ineffective.

Many submissions argued that the adoption of a statutory Australian Human Rights Act strikes the right balance between protecting individual rights and freedoms and respecting parliamentary sovereignty and Australia's constitutional system.

This report contains eight chapters:

• Chapter 1 sets out the details of the inquiry;
• Chapter 2 lays out the history of human rights protection in Australia and provides the background to the inquiry's terms of reference;
• Chapter 3 details the commitments made in Australia’s Human Rights Framework and the status of those commitments;
• Chapter 4 summarises the key human rights concerns raised by submitters to the inquiry;
• Chapter 5 sets out the arguments for and against the adoption of an Australian Human Rights Act;
• Chapter 6 details the rights proposed for protection in a Human Rights Act;
• Chapter 7 outlines the elements of the proposed model for a Human Rights Act;
• Chapter 8 considers what is necessary to develop a culture of respect for human rights; and
• Chapter 9 sets out the committee’s views and recommendations.

Key recommendations:

• The Australian government should introduce legislation to establish a Human Rights Act. The committee considers the bill should broadly reflect the model proposed by the Australian Human Rights Commission.
• The Committee recommends the government consult with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with disability, children’s groups, civil society and other experts on how a proposed 'participation' duty and 'equal access to justice' duty should operate.
• The federal government should commit to significant and sustained funding to ensure greater respect for individual rights and freedoms.