international human rights treaties to which Australia is a party was listed as an item to be given to the Standing Council of Treaties. Consultation was to be undertaken with states and territories, relevant Australian Government agencies and civil society and to be finalised by the end of 2012.32 The 2010 Framework and subsequent UPR voluntary pledges included actions that would adopt a more systemic approach to considering and addressing human rights at the national level. These commitments were aimed at addressing known and accepted deficiencies in the national system of protecting human rights. These mechanisms have mostly fallen into disuse, with public-facing information being out of date and not maintained on a regular basis. (vii) Streamlining and harmonising anti‑discrimination legislation The 2010 Framework included a commitment to harmonise and consolidate Commonwealth anti-discrimination laws ‘to remove unnecessary regulatory overlap, address inconsistencies across laws and make the system more user‑friendly’.33 The objective was ‘to create a more effective system of protections from unlawful discrimination, greater certainty for businesses and the most efficient enforcement mechanisms’.34 The aim was that streamlined Commonwealth laws would lead the way for the development of national harmonised laws across Australia, led through the Standing Committee of Attorneys‑General.35 An Exposure Draft Bill consolidating federal anti-discrimination laws was released in November 2012.36 While there were many positive features to the Bill, a number of changes were recommended by a parliamentary committee inquiry. The Australian Government announced that it would not seek to address these prior to the next federal election, and would instead deal with the discrete issue of including new protections in the Sex Discrimination Act against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, intersex status and gender identity. 40 The then Government lost the subsequent election in September 2013, and as the new Government did not support the Bill, the broader reforms to federal discrimination law did not occur. The Commission’s Position Paper, Free & Equal: a reform agenda for federal discrimination laws (2021) provides an extensive review of the current status of these laws and highlights the pressing and long overdue need for reform. Reforms to federal discrimination laws, based on the Commission’s recommendations in the Position Paper, together with subsequent consideration in the Disability Royal Commission in particular, form part of the recommendations in this report in chapter 4. (viii) Other commitments The 2010 Framework also committed to NGO Forums on Human Rights, hosted by the Attorney‑General and the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The forums would provide a ‘comprehensive consultation mechanism for discussion about domestic and international human rights issues’.37 At least one joint NGO Forum was held before this practice was discontinued. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Attorney‑General’s Department (AGD) had a longstanding practice of convening separate annual human rights forums. While DFAT has regularly maintained this and other engagement ahead of each session of the UN Human Rights Council, the convening of NGO forums by the AGD has been more sporadic. The 2010 Framework and National Human Rights Action Plan also committed to including the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission as a permanent member of the Administrative Review Council.38 This occurred until the Administrative Review Council was effectively discontinued in 2015, with its functions consolidated into the Attorney‑General’s Department.39 While Australia does not have a current National Human Rights Action Plan, it does have multiple national action plans and national frameworks on a range of thematic issues. For FREE & EQUAL: Revitalising Australia’s Commitment to Human Rights