Protecting Australians' rights

The 21st century has brought the threat of terrorism, which once seemed to be a problem restricted to foreign countries, to our own shores.

With this development has come a raft of new laws that attempt to grapple with the heightened threat to our national security by increasing a range of police and security powers. Among them are powers that enable police to stop, question, and search any person within a prescribed security zone - even if they don't suspect that person has committed or is planning to commit a crime.

A prescribed security zone can be anything from a park or city block to an entire city. Clearly there is the potential for any of us within such a zone to have our human rights breached.

Such laws, if necessary, need to comply with Australia’s international human rights obligations.

In each of these situations, Australia's traditional legal and political structures provide little protection for the people involved.

A federal Charter of Rights should fill the gaps in Australia's current system of human rights protection and should be based on the needs and concerns of all Australians.

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission made a submission to the Australia 2020 Summit in which we call for a federal Charter of Rights.

The federal government has stated its intention to initiate a public Inquiry about the best way to protect human rights and freedoms in Australia. It is vital that such an Inquiry be a community-based process that includes Australians from all walks of life, including those who are isolated or disadvantaged.

A national Inquiry would offer a valuable opportunity for Australians to engage with each other and with their government. Such an Inquiry would allow Australians to have their say about which human rights should be protected by Australian law, what remedies should be available for human rights breaches and what role human rights should play in governmental processes.

Under a Charter of Rights the government should be required to take a proactive approach to preventing human rights problems. Parliament should be required to consider whether laws comply with human rights. Federal courts should be able to identify laws which do not comply with human rights.

And all-importantly, a Charter should provide accessible and appropriate remedies to individuals for human rights breaches.

An Inquiry should also be charged to fully explore the complex legal issues raised within the Charter debate. The debate raises some important questions such as the extent of judicial power under a Charter. There are alternative points of view on these questions and they need to be fully explored.