The Commission makes the following recommendations for improved human rights protection at the national level in Australia. 1. The Commission recommends that the Australian Parliament enact a federal Human Rights Act. The Human Rights Act should include the elements proposed in this Position Paper. 2. The Commission recommends the following measures to improve the parliamentary scrutiny processes. • The Commission recommends amendments to House and Senate Standing Orders requiring that bills may not be passed until a final report of the PJCHR has been tabled in Parliament, with limited exceptions for urgent matters. In the event that a Bill proceeds to enactment by exception, provision should be included for a later review of the legislation if the Bill relevantly engaged human rights. • Section 7 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 (Cth) should be amended, along the lines of the power of the UK Human Rights Committee, to allow it to ‘make special reports on any human rights issues which it may think fit to bring to the notice of Parliament’ (but excluding consideration of individual cases). The resourcing of the PJCHR should be increased to enable it to perform this wider inquiry role. • Section 9 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 (Cth) should be amended to require statements of compatibility for all legislative instruments. • The range of matters to be addressed in a statement of compatibility should include consideration of consultations undertaken in accordance with the participation duty proposed in the Commission’s model for a Human Rights Act. • Statements of Compatibility should include consideration of compliance with UNDRIP. • With the introduction of a Human Rights Act, the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 (Cth) could be amended, or an accompanying legislative instrument drafted to provide greater clarity on expectations in statements of compatibility, both in regard to rights and freedoms set out in the Human Rights Act and the remaining obligations under international treaties not expressly included in the Human Rights Act. • A public sector human rights education program be introduced, to provide training and resources to public servants to understand and analyse human rights. • Consideration should be given to having designated human rights advisers in Departments. 1.3 Free & Equal inquiry process The Free and Equal project was announced on 10 December 2018, Human Rights Day, and commenced in early 2019. The project aims to set out the Australian Human Rights Commission’s proposed reform agenda for the better protection of human rights at the national level in Australia. From 2019–2021, the Commission’s consultative process included: • the release of an Issues Paper1 • three Discussion Papers, including a submissions process2 • the Free and Equal national conference on human rights3 • a visit and conduct of technical workshops with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and • a series of roundtables, technical workshops and stakeholder consultations.4 The project is culminating with the release of three papers – two position papers on key reform priorities, and a final report. FREE AND EQUAL A Human Rights Act for Australia 2022 33