The Paris Principles and the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions It is essential that the selection process for the President and Commissioners of the Commission complies with relevant human rights and anti-discrimination legislation, Australia’s international obligations and principles and supports the Commission’s status as Australia’s National Human Rights Institution. Australia strongly supports the 1993 United Nations General Assembly Resolution 48/134 Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions, known as the Paris Principles. The Paris Principles set out the responsibilities, composition and framework of National Human Rights Institutions. These are minimum standards that a National Human Rights Institution, such as the Commission, must meet in order to operate efficiently and be considered credible by its peers and within the United Nations system. The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) has a mandate to review and assess whether National Human Rights Institutions comply with the Paris Principles, and accordingly decide whether that Institution should be accredited as an ‘A’-status or ‘B’-status institution. GANHRI has the mandate to review and analyse the accreditation of National Human Rights Institutions every five years. Following the initial accreditation process, and any subsequent reaccreditation review, ‘A’-status or ‘B’-status is granted alongside a list of recommendations that outline what improvements could be made to increase compliance with the Paris Principles. A key requirement of the Paris Principles is ensuring that the process for appointment of statutory officers to the Commission, as Australia’s National Human Rights Institution, is transparent and merit-based in all circumstances. The Paris Principles and the GANHRI accreditation process set the Commission apart from other Australian Public Service agencies. It is therefore important that the Attorney-General and all involved in the appointments process are informed of the Paris Principles and the accreditation process. These guidelines are designed to ensure that appointments to the Commission are consistent with the Paris Principles and support the Commission’s accreditation as an ‘A’-status National Human Rights Institution.1 1 Refer to General Observations of the Sub-Committee on Accreditation for further information about the Paris Principles: https://www.ohchr.org/en/countries/nhri/global-alliance-national-human-rights-institutions-ganhri/scarules-procedures-and-general-observations. 5