1. Introduction: Towards a revitalised Human Rights Framework for Australia 1.7 Report overview (a) Towards a revitalised Human Rights Framework for Australia (d) A law reform agenda for federal discrimination laws Chapter 1 outlines the actions necessary for the Australian Government to meet its obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights in a revitalised Human Rights Framework. It recommends a National Human Rights Framework for Australia so that we can achieve an effective system of human rights protection for 21st century Australia. Chapter 4 recalls the 4 integrated sets of reforms to federal discrimination laws set out in the Commission’s first Position Paper, to improve the effectiveness of federal discrimination laws. This is built on 4 pillars: The proposed national framework has 8 key action areas (set out in recommendation 1), which are each described in detail in the subsequent chapters of this report. The chapter also sets out key accountability mechanisms for the national framework (set out in recommendation 2). • improving the practical operation of the laws. (b) Context for reform Chapter 2 sets out the context for the reforms recommended in this report. It describes how a national framing of human rights protections in Australia has been intermittent and incomplete. There has been patchy implementation, false starts and abandoned plans and frameworks, resulting in significant gaps in protection of human rights and in implementation of expectations and obligations in the international context. The chapter describes the prior attempts towards national human rights reform, their limitations and failings, to provide the context for the recommendations in this Final Report. (c) A model Human Rights Act for Australia Chapter 3 concerns the centrepiece of the Commission’s proposed National Human Rights Framework: a national Human Rights Act. It recommends that the Government develop an Exposure Draft Bill based on the Commission’s model Human Rights Act for further consideration. The chapter sets out the key elements of the model Human Rights Act, and how it will significantly improve the protection of human rights for all people in Australia. • building a preventative culture • modernising the regulatory framework • enhancing access to justice The Commission recommends a staged approach to federal discrimination law in a new Human Rights Framework that can: • address the immediate priorities of government that are already underway and also address urgent technical fixes to federal discrimination laws that would improve their operation (to be completed in year 1 of the new framework) • commit to undertaking a broader reform of federal discrimination laws to shift the model and introduce new co-regulatory approaches (to be completed in years 2 and 3 of the new framework). (e) Strengthening the role of Parliament in protecting human rights Chapter 5 includes a set of reforms that focus on strengthening the role of Parliament in protecting human rights. The Commission proposes reforms that would enhance the effectiveness of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights and the associated process for analysing the human rights impact of proposed laws and regulations; and enhance parliamentary oversight of decisionmaking in relation to the scope of Australia’s international human rights obligations, and actions to be taken to respond to breaches of our international human rights obligations. FREE & EQUAL: Revitalising Australia’s Commitment to Human Rights 29