1.5 Momentum towards reform
In 2023, in the final stage of the Commission’s
work on this Free & Equal report, there
were 2 major propelling forces supporting
the reform trajectory of the Commission’s
recommendations for a new Human Rights
Framework for Australia:
• the inquiry of the Parliamentary Joint
Committee on Human Rights (PJCHR) into
Australia’s Human Rights Framework; and
• the Final Report of the Royal Commission
into Violence, Neglect and Exploitation
of People with Disability (Disability Royal
Commission).
Of particular note was that a total of 92% of the
318 published submissions support a Human
Rights Act for Australia, which is the central
recommendation in the Commission’s renewed
Human Rights Framework.16
(b) Disability Royal Commission
(a) 2023 PJCHR inquiry on Australia’s
Human Rights Framework
On 15 March 2023, the Attorney‑General,
the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP, referred to the
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human
Rights (PJCHR) the following matters for
inquiry and report by 31 March 2024:
• to review the scope and effectiveness of
Australia’s 2010 Human Rights Framework
and the National Human Rights Action Plan;
• to consider whether the Framework should
be re-established, as well as the components
of the Framework, and any improvements
that should be made;
• to consider developments since 2010 in
Australian human rights laws (both at the
Commonwealth and State and Territory
levels) and relevant case law; and
• to consider any other relevant matters.14
The Disability Royal Commission (DRC)
released its Final Report on 29 September 2023,
after 4 years of work. Across 12 volumes, the
Royal Commissioners recommend a range
of reforms to protect persons with disability
from violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect.
Central to the report’s recommendations is a
human rights-based approach.
The Final Report provides strong support for
the Commission’s recommendations in relation
to reform of the Disability Discrimination Act.
It also recommends a national Disability Rights
Act, building on the Commission’s model for a
national Human Rights Act.
The Disability Royal Commission recommends
that the Government respond to the report’s
recommendations by March 2024, which
coincides with the date for the PJCHR to report
its findings to the federal Parliament.
There is much crossover between the
Commission’s Free & Equal proposals, the
DRC’s Final Report recommendations and the
deliberations of the PJCHR.
The Commission participated actively in this
inquiry, making 2 submissions and providing
evidence twice.15
Much of the evidence to the Committee, in
public hearings and submissions, has focused
on the Commission’s proposed Human Rights
Framework, model Human Rights Act and
proposals for federal discrimination law reform.
The Commission noted, in evidence to the
Committee on 27 September 2023, that it had
26
reviewed the 300-plus submissions made to
the Committee to that date, observing that it
revealed ‘a high degree of consensus on the
way forward for Australia’.
In the Commission’s view, a National Human
Rights Framework provides the vehicle to consider
the reforms recommended by the DRC as well
as those that are forthcoming from the PJCHR.
The Commission reflects on the
recommendations of the Disability Royal
Commission in chapters 3 and 4 of the report.
FREE & EQUAL: Revitalising Australia’s Commitment to Human Rights