Australia has waited 21 years for a Human Rights Act – what is Albanese waiting for? |
The president of the Australian Human Rights Commission this week renewed the call for national human rights legislation. The parliamentary committee report has been gathering dust since 2024. The Senate numbers exist. The only thing missing is political will.
This week at the National Press Club, Dr Hugh de Kretser, president of the Australian Human Rights Commission, renewed his plea for a national Human Rights Act. He should not have needed to.
In October 2005, alongside Malcolm Fraser, Susan Ryan, Spencer Zifcak, Greg Combe and others, we launched a national human rights campaign at Sydney Town Hall. We consulted widely across Australia and drafted a Human Rights Bill in 2009. The Rudd government appointed Frank Brennan to report on the question. Regrettably, it was persuaded by opponents that Australians’ rights were better protected by politicians than judges. Almost 21 years later, we still have no national legislation.
Since 2024 the Albanese government has been refusing to act on a parliamentary joint committee report advocating a national Human Rights Act. There has been no response. That silence is characteristic of a prime minister committed to a small-target strategy.
Since the defeat of the Voice referendum, Albanese has argued that serious reform requires bipartisan support. But a Human Rights Act does not require a referendum. Parliament could pass it tomorrow if the government had the courage. The numbers exist in the House of Representatives, and in the Senate the government could almost certainly rely on the Greens and crossbench independents. The numbers are there. The question is whether the Prime Minister is interested – or whether this will join the long list of reforms Australia talks about but never enacts.
A deteriorating record
Australia’s human rights record is being seriously eroded across a wide front. Our failures have........