The Laws of Australia Title 21 - Human Rights is available from Westlaw Australia (UniMelb staff & student access) and is a good starting point for your research into Australian human rights law. The Laws of Australia provides up-to-date commentary and links to relevant legislation.
Select Laws of Australia from the Westlaw Australia landing page and scroll down to section 21. Then click the + button which opens the menu to the following topics. Each + opens to further sub-topics.
University of Minnesota's Meta Search Engine searches multiple human rights sites. Library includes large collection of international human rights links.
The Australian Human Rights Commission has published a Quick Guide to Australian Discrimination Laws, which provides an overview of Federal and State anti-discrimination laws, and explains the grounds of discrimination and areas covered by each Act.
CCH iKnowConnect (UniMelb staff & student access) arranges commentary into broad discrimination topics, and links to legislation and selected cases. Select discrimination law from the practice area menu on the lefthand side.
Certain Constitutional rights and freedoms have also been implied by the High Court - for example:
Many basic rights receive no constitutional protection. For example, the Constitution includes nothing regarding freedom from discrimination on the basis of sex or race, it lacks a general right of free speech, and it contains no express guarantee of the right to vote.
The most significant Federal rights legislation is anti-discrimination legislation.
These Acts apply to all Australians. The Australian Human Rights Commission has authority to investigate and conciliate complaints of alleged discrimination lodged under these discrimination laws. The Commission does not have the power to decide if unlawful discrimination has happened or to grant remedies. Complaints about sex, race, disability and age discrimination that are not resolved or are discontinued by the Commission can be taken to the Federal Court of Australia, which may transfer the matter to the Federal Circuit Court.
The Commission can also inquire into and conciliate complaints of workplace discrimination under the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (Cth). If the complaint is not resolved or is discontinued, the President of the Commission will decide if workplace discrimination has occurred. If so, the Commission will prepare a report of the complaint, including recommendations for action, for the Commonwealth Attorney-General. The report must be tabled in Parliament. See all the Commission's Reports.
The Part 3-1 General Protections provisions of the Fair Work Act protect rights and freedoms and prohibit discrimination in employment. Discrimination applications under the Fair Work Act are to the Fair Work Commission. If the matter cannot be settled by agreement, then the Commission will hear and decide the matter. The Commission's decisions and orders are published on its website. The Commission's decisions may be appealed Coco v The Queen (1994) 179 CLR 427,437). This presumption includes fundamental rights recognised by the common law.
See more on common law rights on the Human Rights Commission's website.
See also a discussion of the evolution of fundamental rights protection provided by Australian courts in Dan R. Meagher, 'The Principle of Legality and a Common Law Bill of Rights - Clear Statement Rules Head Down Under' (2015) Deakin Law School Research Paper No. 16-18. Available on open access on SSRN.
Only Victoria has a Charter of Rights. Only the Australian Capital Territory and Queensland have Human Rights Acts. All states and territories have anti-discrimination and / or equal opportunities legislation. See details of all state / territory legislation, and complaints procedures below.
New South Wales
Anti - Discrimination Act (NT)
Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 (TAS)
The official and up to date version of each of the following Acts is available on the Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents website (no deep link is available) - select Victorian Law Today to browse to or search for the Act. The following Acts are administered by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.
The Charter is based on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). More information on the Charter and the 20 fundamental human rights it protects can be found via the links below.
The Charter does not create a right to begin legal action for a breach of human rights. However, it allows a person to raise human rights arguments in legal proceedings on other causes of action. Victorian complaint handling bodies – such as the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, the Disability Services Commissioner and the Office of the Public Advocate – must also give consideration to human rights issues in the complaints they are responsible for resolving. In addition, complaints about breaches of the Charter can be made to the Victorian Ombudsman in relation to most public authorities and to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission in relation to police misconduct.
The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission does not handle complaints related to the Charter. It has reviewing, reporting and intervention roles under the Charter.
All Bills introduced into Parliament are required to be accompanied by a statement of compatibility (s 28 of the Charter). The statement must be tabled in each House before the second reading speech is given. The statement must state whether, in the opinion of the Member introducing it, the Bill is compatible with human rights and, if so, how it is compatible. If, in the member's opinion, any part of the Bill is incompatible with the Charter, the statement should explain the nature and extent of how the Bill is incompatible. The Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee must consider any Bill introduced into Parliament and must report to the Parliament as to whether the Bill is incompatible with human rights (s 30 of the Charter).
The Attorney-General must regularly review the Charter. See the 2015 Review.
For background to the Charter and authoritative commentary and analysis of each provision, including cases, see the Judicial College of Victoria's 2016 Charter of Human Rights Bench Book (freely available online). This resource is regularly updated.
For authoritative summaries of all published decisions cases on Charter issues (in VCAT, the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal), see:
Annotated Victorian Charter of Rights by For selected cases on each provision of the Charter in all Victorian courts, see the Human Rights Law Centre's Caselaw Database.
To find decisions on any or all three Victorian Acts in any Victorian Court or VCAT, use AustLII Advanced Search - select Victoria: All Cases from the database menu and type eg: ("equal opportunity act" OR "racial and religious tolerance act" OR "charter of human rights and responsibilities") in the search box.
Jade will find all cases on legislative provisions of all Federal, State & Territory Acts in courts & tribunals.
To search for cases on legislative provisions:
JADE cases are unreported and use medium neutral citations. To find out if a case has been reported, click on a case in the list of citing cases, and you will see at the right hand top of the page a JADE CaseTrace box, containing parallel citations - so you can see if the case has been reported (the case below has been reported in the authorised Victorian Reports), as well as see the case history, all cases citing this case, which paragraphs have been cited, and what is the most recent citing case.
JADE will find all cases on your human rights or discrimination topic in courts & tribunals.
1. Browse by Topic and select eg: human rights or discrimination.
2. Click Refine Search Results in the lefthand menu - and then select Show Advanced Filters.
3. From here you can add eg: keywords, legislation, court etc.
Although the focus of this database is cases on the Victorian Charter of Rights and Responsibilities 2006 (Vic), it is useful for finding selected cases in all Australian jurisdictions, in comparator foreign jurisdictions, such as the UK, New Zealand and Canada, and in individual foreign and international jurisdictions. Cases can be searched by topic, court / tribunal and jurisdiction. Useful case summaries are provided. To find all Australian cases, choose Australia from the Jurisdiction drop-down menu.
Australia follows a dualist approach with respect to the domestic effect of international treaties. This is similar in approach to other Commonwealth countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand. The dualist system means that in order for the treaty obligations to be given the force of law domestically, Australia cannot simply become a party to the treaty - the treaty obligations must be incorporated into domestic legislation. The core international human rights treaties incorporated into Australian domestic legislation are:
However, when Australia is a party to a treaty but has not implemented this domestically by statute, there is a presumption that Parliament, prima facie, intends to give effect to Australia's obligations under international law (High Court of Australia - Mason CJ and and Deane J in Teoh's case 183 CLR 273 [26]).
The Commonwealth Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights was established by the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011. The committee's main function is to examine all Commonwealth bills and legislative instruments for compatibility with the seven human rights treaties to which Australia is a party, and to provide Committee Reports to both Houses of Parliament on its findings.
The Australian Human Rights Commission is responsible for monitoring and scrutinising Australia’s performance in meeting its international human rights commitments. Detailed information on the Commission's scrutiny and monitoring of each international right and freedom is provided on the Rights and Freedoms: Right by Right webpage. See also the Commonwealth Attorney General's Human Rights Guidance Sheets, which contain information on the rights and freedoms in the seven core international human rights treaties to which Australia is a party.
Under the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (Cth), the Commission can also inquire into and conciliate complaints about breaches of human rights where they are against the Commonwealth Government or one of its agencies and they allege a breach of specific international human rights instruments, including:
If the complaint is not resolved or is discontinued, the President of the Commission will decide if a breach of human rights has occurred. If so, the Commission will prepare a report of the complaint, including recommendations for action, for the Commonwealth Attorney General. The report must be tabled in Parliament. See all the Commission's Reports.
See also the chapter on Australia in:
International Law and Domestic Legal Systems: incorporation, transformation, and persuasion by
Check Australia's ratification status and reservations of the core human rights treaties in the UN Treaty Collection Status of Treaties database.
In addition to supporting the principles enunciated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Australia is a party to seven United Nations human rights treaties:
Monitoring compliance with international human rights obligations - Australian, UN and Civil Society reports
Australia is required to submit periodic reports to the UN on its implementation of each of the seven core UN human rights treaties it has ratified. Australia's Reports to the United Nations can be found on:
The UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a review of the human rights records of all UN Member States, undertaken by the UN Human Rights Council. It involves review of the human rights records of all 192 UN Member States once every four years. Review under the UPR does not depend on a country being a party to a particular human rights treaty. Australian Reports can be viewed on the UPR Documents database and on the Australian Human Rights Commission's Australia's Universal Periodic Review on human rights website.
The Australia Country Report includes information on the latest Universal Periodic Review, and the status of the country in relation to UN Charter based bodies and Treaty bodies.
The UN Universal Human Rights Index provides access to country-specific human rights information emanating from international human rights mechanisms in the United Nations system: the Treaty Bodies, the Special Procedures and the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
Amnesty International Annual Country Reports
Human Rights Watch annual World Reports
Freedom House's Freedom in the World - an annual study of political rights and civil liberties
US Department of State annual Human Rights Reports
In the latest Rule of Law Index from the World Justice Project, Australia ranked 10th out of 102 countries for its adherence to protection of fundamental human rights. See the Australian statistics on the Rule of Law website.
The factors taken into account in assessing Australia's human rights rank are those established under the Universal Declaration :
See the full Rule of Law Index for all countries here.
The Impact of the United Nations Human Rights Treaties on the Domestic Level: Twenty Years On by 
Principles and practice of Australian law by
The fourth edition of Principles and Practice of Australian Law maintains the emphasis on context and skills as keys to understanding law in its practical operation. Within this framework, the new edition expands and updates existing material by reference to a range of important contemporary issues and cases.
Law making and human rights : executive and parliamentary scrutiny across Australian jurisdictions by
Law Making and Human Rights examines how rights figure in the law-making process. The topics covered in this new title are presented by experts and scholars to offer a comprehensive analysis of how rights are scrutinised in all Australian jurisdictions.
Committees of influence: parliamentary rights scrutiny and counter-terrorism lawmaking in Australia by
This book includes original and ground breaking research into parliamentary law making and legislative responses to counter-terrorism in Australia. This book introduces new, holistic and evidenced-based methods of evaluating how parliaments deliberate on complex policy issues, and how they weigh up competing rights and interests. Although this book is focused on the Australian experience, it has relevance across all parliamentary democracies grappling with the challenges posed by ensuring robust rights protection whilst responding to the threat of terrorism. This book will be of relevance and interest to law makers, government administrators and public servants, law enforcement and intelligence agencies, political and legal scholars, law students and members of the legal profession.
Human Rights in Twentieth-Century Australia by
This groundbreaking study understands the 'long history' of human rights in Australia from the moment of their supposed invention in the 1940s to official incorporation into the Australian government bureaucracy in the 1980s. To do so, a wide cast of individuals, institutions and publics from across the political spectrum are surveyed, who translated global ideas into local settings and made meaning of a foreign discourse to suit local concerns and predilections. These individuals created new organisations to spread the message of human rights or found older institutions amenable to their newfound concerns, adopting rights language with a mixture of enthusiasm and opportunism. Governments, on the other hand, engaged with or ignored human rights as its shifting meanings, international currency and domestic reception ebbed and flowed. Finally, individuals understood and (re)translated human rights ideas throughout this period: writing letters, books or poems and sympathising in new, global ways.
The legal protection of rights in Australia by
How do you protect rights without a Bill of Rights? Australia does not have a national bill or charter of rights and looks further away than ever from adopting one. But it does have a range of individual elements sourced from common law, statute and the Constitution which, though unsystematic, do provide Australians with some meaningful rights protection. This book outlines and explains the unique human rights journey of Australia. It moves beyond the criticisms long made of the Australian position that its 'formalism', 'legalism' and 'exceptionalism' compromise its capacity for rights protection to consider how the many elements of its novel legal structure operate. This book analyses the interlocking legal framework for the protection of rights in Australia. A key theme of the book is that the many different elements of a fragmented scheme can add up to something significant, albeit with significant gaps and flaws like any other legal rights protection framework. It shows how the jumbled influences of a common law heritage, a written constitution, differing paths taken by jurisdictions within a single federal state, statutory and common law innovations and a strong dose of comparative legal influences have led to the unique patchwork of rights protection in Australia. It will provide valuable reading for all those researching in human rights, constitutional and comparative law.
Human rights in Australia by
Human rights recognise the inherent value of every person, regardless of our respective backgrounds, where we live, what we look like, what we think or what we believe. These rights are based on universal principles of dignity, equality and mutual respect, and are shared across cultures, religions and philosophies. Human rights are about being treated fairly, treating others fairly and being able to make choices about our own lives. Australia was recently elected to a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council, however its own human rights record is not without controversy, attracting international and domestic scrutiny. What are Australia's international and domestic human rights obligations and how are they being addressed in relation to a number of issues such as asylum seeker detention, racial discrimination, free speech, indigenous advancement, juvenile incarceration, disability rights, gender equality and same-sex marriage? Does Australia need to lift its game on human rights if it is to be taken seriously on the international stage?
Australia's human rights scrutiny regime : democratic masterstroke or mere window dressing? by
In 2010 the Australian Government decided that it would not propose a Human Rights Act, despite the relevant recommendation of the 2008-09 National Human Rights Consultation. Instead, it introduced a Human Rights Framework comprising several measures to enhance human rights protection, including theHuman Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011. The scrutiny regime under that Act was designed to ensure rights would be given due consideration before Commonwealth legislation was passed.
The Act created a unique 'bipartite dialogue' system, involving a formal interchange on rights compatibility between the executive and Parliament, while excluding the courts. This set the Commonwealth apart from jurisdictions such as the ACT, Victoria, New Zealand and the UK, which have statutory rights instruments administered by their courts.
The book presents a detailed study of all aspects of the scrutiny regime, and compares the regime with its closest counterparts overseas. In assessing the regime's impact, it argues that a system in which the executive and Parliament are responsible both for protecting rights and for remedying rights breaches is neither more legitimate nor more effective than one involving all three branches of government. Accordingly, it calls for strengthening reforms
Remote freedoms : politics, personhood, and human rights in Aboriginal central Australia by
What does it mean to be a "rights-holder" and how does it come about? Remote Freedoms explores the contradictions and tensions of localized human rights work in very remote Indigenous communities. Based on field research with Anangu of Central Australia, this book investigates how universal human rights are understood, practiced, negotiated, and challenged in concert and in conflict with Indigenous rights. Moving between communities, government, regional NGOs, and international UN forums, Sarah E. Holcombe addresses how the notion of rights plays out within the distinctive and ambivalent sociopolitical context of Australia, and focusing specifically on Indigenous women and their experiences of violence. Can the secular modern rights-bearer accommodate the ideals of the relational, spiritual Anangu person? Engaging in a translation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into the local Pintupi-Luritja vernacular and observing various Indigenous interactions with law enforcement and domestic violence outreach programs, Holcombe offers new insights into our understanding of how the global rights discourse is circulated and understood within Indigenous cultures. She reveals how, in the postcolonial Australian context, human rights are double-edged: they enforce assimilation to a neoliberal social order at the same time that they empower and enfranchise the Indigenous citizen as a political actor. Remote Freedoms writes Australia's Indigenous peoples into the international debate on localizing rights in multicultural terms.
To find journal articles on Australian human rights law, irrespective of the journals in which the articles are published, use:
Online
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