HUMAN RIGHTS BILL THREATENS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION'S INDEPENDENCE
The Commonwealth Government has today introduced into Parliament the Australian Human Rights Commission Legislation Bill 2003 to amend the legislation under which the Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission performs its functions.
While the nature of Commonwealth legislation is obviously a matter for the Federal Parliament, the Commission does not support the bill which stands to have a detrimental impact upon the work of the Commission.
The bill significantly undermines the Commission's independence in the exercise of its "intervention powers".
The Commission's intervention powers allow the Commission, with the leave of the Court, to present written and oral argument in legal proceedings involving human rights and discrimination issues. The Commission has used those powers in approximately 35 cases before Australian courts and tribunals and has never been refused leave to intervene.
In a number of the Commission's intervention cases, the Commonwealth has been a party to the litigation, including in the Tampa litigation and in the recent Full Family Court case regarding the rights of transgender people to marry. The bill would require the Commission to obtain the Attorney-General's consent prior to seeking leave to intervene in such Court proceedings. In the Commission's view, it is inappropriate that a party to the litigation should also have a "gatekeeper function" in relation to potential interveners.
More fundamentally, such a proposal is at odds with the Commission role as an independent body, responsible for monitoring and promoting Australia's compliance with its human rights obligations. For that reason, the Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee recommended a similar provision be removed from an earlier bill introduced by the Government. The Commission's submissions to that Committee can be accessed at:
The report prepared by the Committee can be accessed at:
The bill also alters the structure of the Commission, to replace the identified portfolio Commissioners (who are currently responsible for the areas of Human Rights, Sex Discrimination, Race Discrimination, Disability Discrimination and the rights of Indigenous people) with three "Human Rights Commissioners". Those three Human Rights Commissioners are to have overlapping responsibilities, which are not clearly identified. The Commission considers this change to be unnecessary and unproductive. The current structure of the Commission provides a strong educational and advocacy role for individual Commissioners and has received significant community support since 1986.
The Commission notes that the Commonwealth Government has made a number of recent statements reaffirming its commitment to human rights. The Commission is hopeful that similar sentiments will lead to a reconsideration of the provisions in the bill.
Media contacts:
Jan Payne, Director Public Affairs - 02 9284 9791
Janine MacDonald - 02 9284 9880 or 0408 469 347
