National Human Rights Consultation Submission 

AGWW-7QP9UT 

Organisation: Sentence Adminstration Board of the ACT 

Submission Text: 

This submission is a personal submission and does not reflect
 
the views of the Sentence Administration Board of the ACT or the ACT
 
Government.
 
I strongly urge the Consultation Committee to recommend the adoption of a
 
National Charter of Human Rights broadly based on the Charters currently
 
operating in the ACT and Victoria.
 
The Charter should be based on the Universal Declaration on Human Rights
 
and relevant Internationl Conventions including the ICCPR,ICESCR,CERD and
 
the Rights of the Child. Other interntionl convention should be included if
 
there is substantial community support for their inclusion.
 
The experience in Australia in recent years including the detention of
 
children in detention centres, the mandatory detention of asylum seekers,
 
the indefinite detention of stateless asylum seekers, the deportation of
 
Australian citizens on migration grounds and the draconian anti terrorism
 
laws provide an undeniable case for a National Charter of Human Rights.
 
It has become increasingly clear that our rights are not adequately
 
protected by the courts, the excutive and the parliament.
 
If a Charter is adopted citizens should have a right of action to protect
 
their rights and be entitled to seek compensation if their rights are
 
abused.
 
The role of HREOC will need to be expanded to guve them the power to
 
investigate alleged breaches of human rights and to run education programs
 
in school and the commnunity on human rights.
 
The experience in the ACT and Victoria provides a strong argument that
 
legislation incompatabily statements need to be prepared by an agency
 
outside the agency responsible for the legislation. This could include a
 
unit inside the Attorney Generals Department. The incompatability
 
statements currently prepared are meaningless and are an exercise in box
 
ticking. 

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