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National Human Rights Consultation - Victorian Government Submission

On 10 December 2008, the Federal Attorney-General launched the National Consultation to seek the community’s views on the protection of human rights in Australia.  The Terms of Reference for the National Consultation are to consult with the Australian community about the following three questions:

• Which human rights and responsibilities should be protected and promoted?
• Are human rights sufficiently protected and promoted?
• How could Australia better protect and promote human rights?

Further information about the National Human Rights Consultation is available at the National Human Rights Consultation website.

The Victorian Government has made a submission to the Consultation. The submission states that:

• Victoria is in a unique position to inform the National Consultation as the first state to enact a charter of human rights.
• The Victorian Charter is strengthening Victoria’s democracy and improving organisational culture. 
• In view of the positive experience in Victoria, the Victorian Government supports the introduction of a Federal Charter based on the legislative ‘dialogue’ model adopted in this state.  A Federal Charter would have numerous benefits identified also in the Victorian context, such as improving human rights protections, providing additional protection for disadvantaged people, providing governance standards for government, educating people about their rights and responsibilities and encouraging a human rights culture.
• More specifically, the Victorian Government supports a Federal Charter that applies to federal public authorities only and which preserves the operation of the Victorian Charter.
• A Federal Charter should take an incremental approach to human rights protection, as the Victorian Charter has done.  It should initially protect the same civil and political rights protected in the Victorian Charter and include a review mechanism so that the inclusion of economic, social and cultural rights can be considered in the future.

The Committee will report to the Federal Government by 31 August 2009.

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Author:
Place of Publication:	Victora
Publisher:	Department of Justice
Date of Publication:	June 2009
Number of Pages:	33 pages
Copyright:	State of Victoria, 2009.