Importantly, the PJCHR and Statement of Compatibility process was created on the basis of recommendations of the 2009 National Human Rights Consultation Committee (NHRCC).96 However the NHRCC also recommended that a federal Human Rights Act be passed, and this was never implemented. A Human Rights Act would bring human rights from the non-enforceable international realm into domestic law. In the absence of a Human Rights Act with ‘teeth’ in relation to the executive, and domestic relevance, parliamentary scrutiny measures alone have not resulted in sufficient embedding of human rights thinking by parliamentarians, nor the development of a sufficiently strong human rights culture upstream in decision making and the design of Bills and legislative instruments. (d) State and territory human rights instruments Human Rights Acts have been passed in Victoria,97 the Australian Capital Territory98 and most recently Queensland.99 These acts bind the relevant state and territory public authorities, including government departments, statutory authorities and public servants. They have worked to protect individual rights and improve the human rights culture within those jurisdictions. Case studies illustrating the role of these Human Rights Acts are included throughout this Position Paper. Many of these case studies are drawn from the Human Rights Law Centre’s 2022 collation of 101 case studies illustrating how these instruments have improved people’s lives.100 State and territory Human Rights Acts provide an important example for the Federal Government. They show that international human rights are well capable of being protected in line with Australia’s particular democratic structure, becoming Australian laws. The Commission has drawn on these existing Human Rights Acts in its proposal for a federal Human Rights Act. Currently, the lack of an overarching federal instrument means that a person’s access to rights-protections is wholly contingent on where they live. A person in the ACT can enforce their human rights against government through a Human Rights Act, while a person in South Australia cannot. A federal Human Rights Act would provide comprehensive protections at the federal level, and also provide a template for those states without a Human Rights Act to adapt for implementation in their own jurisdictions. This would ensure full human rights coverage and the equal application of the law to all Australians. (e) Australian Human Rights Commission The Commission has jurisdiction to consider complaints based on human rights instruments scheduled to, or declared for the purposes of, the AHRC Act. Without domestic implementation of those international instruments, it is a jurisdiction based on international law. Presently, the Commission can inquire into and attempt to conciliate individual complaints of unlawful discrimination,101 equal opportunity in employment (the ILO 111 jurisdiction)102 and other breaches of human rights.103 It can also hold public inquiries and consultations, including to address systemic human rights or discrimination issues of national importance. It can undertake research and education to promote human rights. The Commission may report to the Minister on laws that should be made or action the government should take on human rights104 or compliance with Australia’s international human rights obligations.105 In legal cases involving human rights issues, the Commission has a power to intervene and make submissions with the leave of the court. FREE AND EQUAL A Human Rights Act for Australia 2022 57