ACT Government’s commitment to strengthening Human Rights Act a welcome step
The Human Rights Law Centre today welcomed the announcement by the ACT Government that they will make it easier for people to take effective action when their human rights are being violated.
The announcement, by Human Rights Minister, Tara Cheyne, in the ACT Legislative Assembly, came in response to the No Rights Without Remedy community campaign, which called for reform to the ACT’s Human Rights Act. It also follows the unanimous recommendations of an ACT Parliamentary Inquiry endorsing the key recommendations of the campaign.
Keren Adams, acting co-Chief Executive Officer of the Human Rights Law Centre, said
“We are pleased the ACT Government has listened to community calls to improve accessibility of human rights for people in the ACT. People need a simple and easy way to uphold their rights. The decision to amend the ACT Human Rights Act so that the Human Rights Commission can receive and mediate complaints, is an important step to making this a reality.
“We would like to see the ACT Government also committing to expand the jurisdiction of the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal to deal with complaints that can't be resolved through conciliation. That will be key to making the Human Rights Act truly accessible. Yesterday’s announcement of in principle support for this, however, alongside increasing the powers of the Human Rights Commission, are important steps in the right direction."
Background
The No Rights Without Remedy coalition consists of ACT Council of Social Services, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, Civil Liberties Australia, Canberra Community Law, and the Human Rights Law Centre. The coalition called for people whose human rights are being violated to be able to make a complaint to the ACT Human Rights Commission to mediate, and if not resolved escalate the matter in a fast and low-cost way through the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The current situation, where people have to go through an expensive and complex process through the ACT Supreme Court, is out of reach for too many people.
The ACT Government has said it wants to wait until the complaints mechanism is in place before expanding the jurisdiction of the territory's civil and administrative tribunal because the government needs to first quantify the resources required to expand the tribunal's scope.
Media contact:
Michelle Bennett, Engagement Director, 0419 100 519, michelle.bennett@hrlc.org.au