The key function of the Human Rights Act will be to coherently implement Australia’s international obligations domestically, and to codify fundamental common law rights that are also reflected in these international instruments. The Commission’s recommended model primarily incorporates ICCPR and ICESCR rights, as these are core international treaties with general application to all people. It also incorporates overarching principles derived from the ‘thematic’ treaties, relating to particular subsections of the population, such as children (CRC) and persons with disability (CRPD); as well as principles from UNDRIP, noting Australia’s particular obligations to First Nations peoples. The core treaties would also remain part of the function of parliamentary scrutiny by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights (PJCHR). Key rights and freedoms are also sourced within the common law. Australia inherited its common law tradition from the United Kingdom. Rights and freedoms sourced within this tradition have been developed over centuries by Parliament and the courts, and reflected within the Magna Carta of 1215.4 They are part of a heritage that continues today, applied by modern courts and reflected in modern statutes. Many traditional rights and freedoms are also now recognised as human rights. Common law rights informed the development of the core treaties, and many are directly reflected within the ICCPR. These include, for example, freedom of association, freedom of expression and freedom of movement. As noted by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC), ‘human rights have been said to incorporate or enhance rights in the common law. In their history and development, common law rights and human rights clearly influenced each other’.5 106 As discussed in chapter 2, common law rights are routinely overridden by legislation, and are only minimally protected within Australia’s Constitution. The COVID-19 pandemic shed light on the tenuous nature of existing protections, and saw repeated public calls for stronger reflection and respect for fundamental freedoms within Australia’s legal and political system. A Human Rights Act would reflect and strengthen important common law rights and fundamental freedoms, alongside those human rights that are primarily sourced in international law. (b) Nature of rights Human rights are grounded in principles of dignity, equality and autonomy.6 They are key to the functioning of a democratic society and the maintenance of the rule of law. Australian values of fairness, inclusivity and freedom are realised through human rights protections. Human rights law recognises that ‘all human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated’.7 Universality means that human rights are not contingent on citizenship or behaviour; they belong to everyone and they cannot be taken away. They apply to all human beings from the time they are born. The ‘indivisibility’ of rights means that there is no hierarchy of human rights, as all are important. The fulfilment of one right is often dependent on the fulfilment of other rights (they are ‘interrelated’ and ‘interdependent’). In this regard, many civil and political rights cannot be realised unless economic, social and cultural rights are also secured, and vice versa. For example, if a person does not enjoy their economic right to adequate housing, they might be prevented from enjoying civil and political rights including the right to privacy and the right to vote. The realisation of all human rights is necessary for individuals to live with dignity and to enjoy equality.