1. Introduction: Towards a revitalised Human Rights Framework for Australia Recommendation 2 Implementing the National Human Rights Framework The National Human Rights Framework should: • set out commitments over a 10 year period, with two 5 year implementation plans • be adequately, appropriately and sustainably resourced • include mechanisms for community engagement and participation in the framework’s operation • set measurable targets • identify how the framework interacts with other national frameworks, agreements and plans • include a monitoring, evaluation and learning framework with public reporting at regular intervals, in line with the commitments. 1.2 Introduction This report sets out the Australian Human Rights Commission’s (Commission) recommendations for improving protection of human rights in Australia. It recommends the introduction of a new National Human Rights Framework to revitalise our commitment to the protection of human rights. Each chapter of this report sets out a key element of this proposed new national framework. The report is the culmination of the Commission’s 5 year long major inquiry, Free & Equal: An Australian Conversation on Human Rights. The Inquiry included the release of 4 consultation papers, the convening of a national conference and multiple rounds of technical workshops, as well as engagement in the Universal Periodic Review process at the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2021 and engagement in the inquiry work of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights across 2023. Two major reports underpin this Final Report, setting out law reform priorities: Free & Equal: A reform agenda for federal discrimination laws (December 2021) and Free & Equal: A Human Rights Act for Australia (March 2023). The Free & Equal Final Report sets out a roadmap for what an effective system of human rights protection for 21st Century Australia would look like, and what steps Australia needs to take to get there. The Terms of Reference for Free & Equal outlined 4 processes for the Commission to investigate – how to: • set national priorities on human rights • educate the community about human rights • incorporate human rights standards into domestic law, policy and practice • consider the observations of human rights treaty body committees and UN special procedures about compliance with our human rights obligations. There has been a high level of public and stakeholder engagement in consultations over the 5 years of the Inquiry. This ensures that the recommendations developed are principled, pragmatic, evidence-based and grounded in a level of consensus built across the relevant sectors. At the centre of this report is a finding that Australia should have in place a national framework for advancing the protection of human rights. FREE & EQUAL: Revitalising Australia’s Commitment to Human Rights 15