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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 3 Hansard (23 October) . . Page.. 4029 ..

MR STANHOPE

The government has carefully considered the committee's recommendations. In particular, we have had to consider what form a bill of rights should take, given the status of the ACT as a self-governing territory in a federal system. Advice was sought from legal experts about the way in which the committee's proposed model could affect the operation of government facilities and services.

Each government department was asked to consider its programs and operations in the context of the provisions proposed in the consultative committee's report. I thank them for having participated actively in the process. Encouragingly, agencies found that most of their programs were largely consistent with human rights.

I am pleased to be able to announce that the government accepts all of the recommendations of the consultative committee in full, in part or in principle.

It is our intention to base the new human rights act on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a human rights treaty to which Australia has been a signatory for over 20 years. This means that fundamental civil and political rights, such as the right to equality before the law, the right to a fair trial, freedom of movement and so forth, will be enshrined in ACT law.

The human rights act will require all ACT laws to be interpreted having regard to the civil and political rights set out in the act. Unless a territory law explicitly overrides the human right in question, an interpretation which is consistent with human rights must be adopted by ACT courts, tribunals and decision makers. This means that human rights will become part of every judicial and administrative decision.

Each piece of legislation that gives authority for administrative action will be read, as far as possible, to be consistent with the human rights protected by the act. This means that as part of the duty to act lawfully an administrative decision maker will have to take account of human rights, and the judiciary will give explicit recognition to human rights principles when applying a law and exercising judicial discretion. However, it is important to understand that the human rights act will not override or make invalid existing law. The courts are not being given the power to declare a law invalid.

We, as elected representatives of the community and members of the Assembly, have a responsibility to consider human rights each time we consider the passage of legislation. The government therefore accepts the committee's recommendation that government bills should be developed consistent with fundamental rights. The human rights act will require that all government bills be checked for consistency with fundamental human rights and, if it is necessary to depart from those standards, the government will explain why it is necessary to do so to the Assembly. This is not unique to the ACT; it is the approach adopted in New Zealand and in the United Kingdom.

The human rights act will not be an entrenched law and it will not limit the power of this Assembly to pass legislation that is not consistent with particular rights, but it will mean that the proposed legislation can be openly judged against a consistent and transparent guideline. The Scrutiny of Bills Committee will have a responsibility under the act to report to the Assembly about human rights issues raised by bills presented to the Assembly. This includes both government and non-government bills.

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