Involving Civil Society in Constitutional Reform: An Overview of the Australian National Human Rights Consultation and the Proposed National Human Rights Framework

Abstract

The Australian National Human Rights Consultation conducted a series of consultation exercises on the following questions posed by the Australian government: which human rights (including corresponding responsibilities) should be protected and promoted?; are these human rights currently sufficiently protected and promoted?; and how could Australia better protect and promote human rights? The consultation exercises conducted by the Committee ranged from traditional oral hearings held in community venues and Parliament through to the use of modern platforms such as Facebook and blogs. The Committee recommended the enactment of a Human Rights Act, applicable at the federal level. Under this Act, judges would have to power to interpret Commonwealth laws consistently with human rights, provided that this was the intention of the federal Parliament, and courts would be able to hear claims that Commonwealth agencies had breached the rights of individuals. Although the Human Rights Act recommendations were not taken up by the government, the human rights framework adopted instead nevertheless provides a means for greater protection of human rights in Australia.