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Calls for a dedicated state based Human Rights Act are growing, as more than 120 advocacy groups rallied outside of NSW parliament yesterday to implore government officials to strengthen human rights protections.
An alliance of legal and community organisations, religious bodies and trade unions protested the need to establish a public inquiry into the introduction of a Human Rights Act for New South Wales, arguing that the lack of one leaves residents with some of the weakest legal protection of their human rights anywhere in the Western democratic world.
The group, Human Rights Act for NSW, says NSW has fallen significantly behind other Australian states, as well as Western countries, in legally protecting fundamental rights.
Chair of the Human Rights Act Alliance and Vice President of Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, Kerry Weste, argues that states like Victoria, the ACT and Queensland are benefiting in “concrete ways” because they have a Human Rights Act that helps government officials to make fair and caring decisions.
These laws, which have been operating successfully for decades, also support community-focused policy development in areas like domestic violence, housing, education, aged care and healthcare…It’s time for NSW to embrace the opportunity to learn from the experience in other jurisdictions through an inquiry into a Human Rights Act.
Kerry Weste
Acting Chief Executive Officer of People with Disability Australia, Megan Spindler-Smith, explains how the Disability Royal Commission may have exposed the violence, abuse and neglect experienced by people with disability across Australia, yet the disability community in NSW still relies on a patchwork of laws that simply isn’t strong enough to protect them.
“Too often people with disability are still left behind in protections against violence, discrimination and hate. A Human Rights Act would create clear legal protections and give people with disability a pathway to challenge the systemic barriers that continue to drive violence, discrimination and exclusion.”
Last October, the Member for Newtown, Jenny Leong MP, introduced the private members Human Rights Bill 2025 (NSW).
This week, the Legislative Assembly has an opportunity to refer the Bill to an inquiry. Something the NSW Labor Government had explicitly committed to in 2024, promising community consultation to better protect the human rights of NSW residents.
The alliance says this gap is increasingly difficult to justify, particularly given NSW Labor’s promise to explore stronger human rights protections
According to Human Rights Act for NSW, an inquiry would offer the NSW community a chance to come together in a unifying conversation about returning dignity and power to everyday people, and will help government officials to make fair decisions.
Public support for reform is strong. Recent polling by Amnesty International Australia found that 76% of people in NSW support introducing a Human Rights Act in the state.
Back in January, over 120 international countries urged the Australian government to improve its protection of human rights, following the United Nations Human Rights Council’s review of Australia’s legal system.
Australian Human Rights Commission President, Hugh de Kretser, said the international community delivered consistent messages regarding the lack of human rights protections in Australia’s democracy.
As a wealthy, stable democracy, Australia should be leading the world on human rights
Hugh de Kretser
Powerd Media will keep you updated as this story progresses.