June 2023
The Parliamentary Joint Committee of Human Rights held an Inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights Framework. The wide-ranging inquiry considered a future Human Rights Framework, including whether a federal Human Rights Act should be introduced. ECCQ consulted with members and multicultural Queenslanders to develop a submission in response to the inquiry.
Throughout the consultation process which guided the development of this response, ECCQ identified five key messages to respond to the questions posed by the inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights Framework:
- A Human Rights Act for Australia should be enacted, so that migrants, refugees and asylum-seeker background people, international students and others in Australia on temporary visas are protected
- The current systems and mechanisms protecting human rights at a federal level are not sufficient to protect all migrant, refugee and asylum-seeker background people
- ECCQ supports the model proposed by the AHRC for a new Human Rights framework
- A broad reaching, layered and robust communication and education strategy should be implemented when the Human Rights Act is confirmed, with targeted sections for multicultural communities
- The complaints process for alleged breaches of Human Rights needs to be flexible and inclusive to allow for all people, including multicultural communities, to access it.
Read our full submission below.
Click here to read more about the inquiry, its progress and outcomes.
