Actions for the 48th Parliament of Australia
Take action to ensure human rights are respected, protected and enforceable under domestic and international law
Problem: Australia has no federal Human Rights Act
There is no unifying or comprehensive framework for the protection of human rights in Australia. Australia fails to fully incorporate its international human rights obligations into domestic law. Existing human rights protections in Australia are fragmented and often can’t be easily understood by the community. While some jurisdictions do have state-based human rights acts, others don’t, and the effectiveness of existing state-based protections varies.
Solution:
Enact a federal Human Rights Act within two years.
Problem: Australia isn’t compliant with international human rights obligations on the right to protest
Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) requires that governments guarantee and respect the right to peaceful protest for all people, and that they create an enabling environment within their jurisdictions for the exercise of this right.
Peaceful protest is an important way for people to protect our other human rights collectively. Australian history includes protests to strengthen safety protections for workers, to preserve Tasmania’s Franklin River, to win the right to vote for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and women and to step towards equality for LGBTIQ+ people. Protest movements play an integral role in winning justice for people, communities and the environment, and the Australian Government has a responsibility to guarantee people’s right to protest.
For years, our right to protest has been under sustained attack across this continent. Over the past twenty years, most governments around Australia have passed laws to limit protest rights that are in contravention of Australia’s international human rights obligations. In several jurisdictions, people face lengthy prison sentences and fines into the tens of thousands of dollars for simply exercising their human right to peaceful protest.
Independent international human rights experts are concerned by the erosion of our right to protest in Australia. In 2014 and 2016 numerous United Nations Special Rapporteurs urged several state governments in Australia not to adopt legislation that would restrict our human rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of opinion and expression. In 2018, a report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders described alarm at “the trend of introducing constraints by state and territory governments on the exercise of this fundamental freedom”. In 2019 several UN Special Rapporteurs again voiced concern at increasing criminalisation of protestors. In December of that year, Australia’s civic space was downgraded from ‘open’ to ‘narrowed’ by CIVICUS Monitor, a global alliance on citizen and civil society action.
In the years since 2019, more anti-protest legislation has been passed across many jurisdictions. This includes laws passed following targeted lobbying from some industries to more harshly punish protestors calling attention to those industries’ harmful behaviours. It also includes laws passed before planned protests to give police more powers to arrest and punish.
Solution:
While protections for protest rights in Australia are declining, there may be elements of Australia’s approach to ICCPR rights that demonstrate good practice. These should be identified and promoted internationally. In an increasingly uncertain and volatile world, faith in the international human rights system is waning.
Now is the time for Australia to positively engage with the international human rights system and improve its compliance, including with its obligation to ensure people in all jurisdictions have the right to protest peacefully without fear of police brutality or harsh criminal sanction.
Invite the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and association to conduct a country visit to Australia to:
- examine the situation relevant to their mandate
- identify areas of good practice
- make recommendations to federal, state and territory governments to improve the protection of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
Problem: the human rights of older people aren’t yet protected at the international level
In May 2025, the United Nations (UN) finally resolved to draft an International Convention on the Human Rights of Older Persons. This came after more than decade of debate within various United Nations forums in New York and Geneva. Community Legal Centres Australia has been actively engaged in these processes throughout.
The UN Intergovernmental Working Group tasked to draft the Convention will meet for an organisational session in February 2026 and for two further substantive sessions in July and October 2026.
This is a historic opportunity to advance older persons’ rights. The UN’s consensus resolution to create a legally binding instrument was a victory for human rights and multilateralism, at a time of international uncertainty.
When the Disability Convention was drafted, people with disabilities were included in the process. This embodies the principle of “Nothing About Us Without Us”, setting an important precedent and leading to a stronger, more legitimate outcome.
It is important that Australia includes older persons, their representative organisations, and civil society representatives, as equal participants alongside Australia and other member states in drafting and negotiating the forthcoming treaty.
Only full and equal participation will result in a new convention that is truly responsive to the widespread human rights violations experienced by diverse older persons.
Solution:
Support the development of an international treaty on the human rights of older people. Include older persons and the civil society organisations that represent them as equal participants in the development process.