Commentary

Enshrining the right to a healthy environment in law is one way we can hold governments to account for the benefit of future generations. In November 2022, we secured a win when the ACT Government announced that in 2023 they will introduce the right to a healthy environment into the ACT Human Rights Act.

In 2004, the Australian Capital Territory became the first Australian jurisdiction to establish a Human Rights Act.  At present, however, people have to take legal action in the complex and expensive Supreme Court, which is out of reach for most people.  In 2022, the Human Rights Law Centre called on the Australian Capital Territory to remove these needless barriers from the Act to make it easier for people to uphold their human rights.

The Human Rights Law Centre has run a competition calling on high school students to write an essay explaining how a Charter of Rights would benefit Australians. The competition aimed to find the best introduction to an Australian Charter of Human Rights.

Everyone should be able to access quality education, regardless of their postcode or bank balance. People living in remote and rural areas, First Nations people and children from migrant backgrounds often lack equitable access to education. The Human Rights Law Centre co-hosted a webinar on the right to education with the UTS Centre for Social Justice & Inclusion in February 2022.

The Human Rights Law Centre has long advocated for comprehensive, fair and effective anti-discrimination laws across Australia. Australia needs stronger protections from discrimination for people of faith, but unfortunately, draft legislation released by the Morrison Government in 2019 contained a number of major flaws and failed to strike the right balance.