Submission to 2023-24 Pre-Budget for an Australian Charter for Human Rights
The Albanese Government and Treasurer Jim Chalmers have been urged to improve the upcoming Federal Budget for people across the community by placing human rights at the heart of the budget decisions they will be making.
In a submission to the Federal Treasury’s consultation on the upcoming 2023-24 Federal Budget, the Human Rights Law Centre highlighted that Federal Budgets should not only factor in issues like monetary cost, but also the basic standards and wellbeing that everyone in the community should enjoy.
The submission calls for two key changes:
Implement the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights recommendations for assessing the Budget against the main human rights standards Australia has committed to; and
Follow the example of Victoria, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory and enact an Australian Charter of Human Rights so that human rights are at the centre of all government decision making, including the making and delivering of the Federal Budget’s measures.