New report exposes lack of human rights consideration by Federal Parliament
A new report exposes the failure of the Federal parliament in the 2019 –22 term to fulfil its promise to properly consider human rights before voting on legislation.
The report, authored by RMIT Faculty of Law academic Adam Fletcher and commissioned by the Human Rights Law Centre, highlights that 60% of legislation with human rights concerns was made into law with no review completed by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights.
The report details 43 out of 72 pieces of legislation passed in the 2019 – 2022 parliamentary term before human rights scrutiny could be completed, including:
-
The extension of the cashless debit card in 2020
-
Creating a mandatory ‘unique student identifier’ for tertiary education students in 2020; and
-
The India travel ban delegated legislation in 2021
The report recommends legislating a Charter of Human Rights so that human rights must be considered when making Australian laws. It also calls for changes to Parliamentary procedure to ensure there is proper parliamentary scrutiny before Parliament votes on proposed legislation.
Adam Fletcher, RMIT Faculty of Law academic and author said:
“My research highlights how human rights issues were regularly ignored in the last parliamentary term, and that the consequences of this included a cashless debit card that ran for two more years longer than it should, and a mandatory student identifier that should have had privacy concerns fully dealt with before becoming law. Federal parliament, and therefore the community, is missing out on better laws when human rights aren’t being given proper consideration.”
Caitlin Reiger, CEO, Human Rights Law Centre said:
“Everyone benefits when human rights are placed at the heart of government decision making and parliamentary law making. There is a clear solution to the problems highlighted in this timely research – we know we can’t always rely on politicians to do the right thing. An Australian Charter of Human Rights will give our elected representatives clear guidance we can trust, and gives people and communities the power to hold governments to account when needed. The sooner this is a reality, the faster the benefits flow across the community.”
Read the Human Rights Scrutiny in the Australian Parliament report here.
Media Contact:
Thomas Feng, Media and Communications Manager, 0431 285 275, thomas.feng@hrlc.org.au
Legal challenge filed against Tasmanian Parole Board’s decision to gag free speech
The Human Rights Law Centre has filed legal proceedings on behalf of Tasmanian grandmother, Susan Neill-Fraser, to challenge a restrictive parole condition placed on her by the Tasmanian Parole Board seeking to limit her ability to speak to the media.
Read more
University of Melbourne urged to drop repressive anti-protest and surveillance policies
The University of Melbourne is being urged to abandon policy changes that restrict staff and students’ right to protest and permit the widespread surveillance of people using their wifi network.
Read more
Expanded protections for marginalised groups welcomed in Allan Government’s anti-vilification laws
The Human Rights Law Centre welcomes the additional protections for marginalised groups in anti-vilification laws passed today by the Allan Government. These laws expand protections from vilification to include people from LGBTIQA+ and disability communities, and provide communities with important civil law avenues to address vilification.
Read more
Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands across Australia, including the lands of the Wurundjeri, Boon Wurrung, Gadigal, Ngunnawal, Darug and Wadawurrung people where we work from.
We pay our respect to Elders, both past and present.
This land always was, and always will be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land. Sovereignty has never been ceded.
WARNING: This site contains images or names of people who have passed away.