Model for a federal Human Rights Act Recommendation: The Commission recommends that the Australian Parliament enact a federal Human Rights Act. Chapters 4 to 12 outline the Commission’s proposed model for a federal Human Rights Act. Chapter 4: Federal dialogue model 4.1 Nature of dialogue models The Commission proposes a federal Human Rights Act built on the legislative dialogue model. Dialogue Human Rights Act models incorporate a formal ‘dialogue’ between the executive, legislature and judiciary, with each branch sharing responsibility for respecting and protecting human rights. Dialogue models grant each branch of government a distinct role to play, in line with the ordinary institutional functions each perform. Parliament considers human rights when it makes laws, the executive when it applies laws and policies, and the judiciary when it interprets laws.1 Dialogue models have been adopted in comparable jurisdictions, including the UK and New Zealand, as well as in Australian jurisdictions in the ACT, Victoria and Queensland.2 A dialogue model was recommended by the National Human Rights Consultation Committee (NHRCC) report in 2009, and strongly supported in Free & Equal submissions and consultations.3 The model distributes responsibilities as follows. • Parliament: Parliamentary committees scrutinise new legislation for compliance with human rights. Proponents of legislation must provide a statement indicating compatibility with human rights when introducing new legislation. If a court finds that legislation is incompatible with human rights, Parliament chooses whether or not to amend the legislation. • Executive: The executive is obliged to act compatibly with human rights when implementing laws and policies, and must consider human rights when making decisions. It may face court action if it fails to do so. • Judiciary: The judiciary interprets laws in accordance with human rights where possible (in light of Parliament’s intention). When a court finds that legislation is incompatible with human rights, there is a mechanism in place to inform Parliament, but this does not affect the law’s validity. The judiciary considers allegations of breaches by the executive and may provide remedies for human rights breaches. FREE AND EQUAL A Human Rights Act for Australia 2022 101