Page 287 - Week 01 - Thursday, 11 February 2016
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I am very pleased by the way that this process has been handled. I think that on all sides there has been a cooperative approach, both in this place and in the committee, to what I would hope is the desire of all of us in this place: to make sure that we are implementing the right framework, in this case to the advantage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, for rights to an education and children’s rights. These are all very important matters that we would all hold dear. As we are changing the law, we need to ensure that there are no unintended consequences from what we are doing in this place, and I am comfortable that we have done that.
I thank the members of this place for their cooperation through this process, for working collegiately on it. I thank the committee for its useful inquiry and its report, which I read. I am satisfied that, from that process, the questions that were raised in scrutiny have been resolved. As I said, we will be supporting this bill today.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (4.37): I will be supporting this bill today. I indicated my support for it in principle last year when we first examined this legislation. It was then referred to the Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety. They considered it, and the government provided their response on Tuesday. I thank the committee for their scrutiny of this bill and their report.
In particular, this bill expands the recognition and realisation of economic, social and cultural rights in the ACT, as opposed to civil and political rights, which, as members will know, are much more legislatively advanced here in the territory.
The bill extends the binding obligations on public authorities in part 5A of the Human Rights Act to the right to education. The right to education was previously recognised in the act, and this was due for amendment in 2012. However, the change today amends the legislation to enliven that right and it ensures that the ACT government has to act and make decisions consistent with the right to education.
Part 5A of the act is the part that extends obligation to public authorities and ensures they must act consistently with human rights. The corollary is that a person may take legal proceedings in relation to public authority actions if they are contrary to human rights. Essentially, the change in this bill will switch on the right to education in the ACT. Beyond mere recognition, it actually requires action.
I note that in 2012 the Greens proposed the amendment which would have activated the right in that year, instead of waiting four more years. This was not accepted at the time. It is one example of something that happens fairly often: the Greens argue for a change that is initially dismissed; a few years later, that idea is accepted. I am particularly pleased that this change is now being accepted as I begin my work as the minister for education.
The bill also adds a section to the Human Rights Act to recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples hold distinct cultural rights. It specifies that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples must not be denied the right to have their material and economic relationships with the land and waters and other resources with which they have a connection under traditional laws and customs recognised and valued. I
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