2021-02-25
Other countries have Bills or Charters of Human Rights, why don’t we?
By Hon Alison Xamon, MLC, Member for North Metropolitan Region
[Originally published as an Opinion Piece with WA Today]
Contrary to popular belief, many of what Western Australians would consider to be our fundamental rights, like the right to privacy; to healthcare; our cultural rights or the right to peaceful assembly, are not protected by Australian law.
In fact, Australia is the only western democracy that does not protect the basic rights and freedoms of its people in either legislation or the constitution.
All countries with legal and political systems similar to Australia, including New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom, have a Bill or Charter of Human Rights.
Western Australians’ rights should be enshrined in law.
The Greens have come to this election with a clear and unequivocal commitment to work towards establishing a Charter of Rights here in Western Australia. Having our own Charter of Rights is neither a radical nor a new proposal. In 2007 Attorney General Jim McGinty proposed that WA introduce human rights protections. A Consultation Committee chaired by Fred Chaney found clear majority support. But the process stalled and consideration moved to providing these protections at federal level.
Federal laws would be great. Ideally, all Australians would be covered under a national Charter of Rights.
But although there is an ongoing discussion, championed unsurprisingly by the Australian Human Rights Commission, it is unlikely this will happen anytime soon.
Meanwhile, Queensland, the ACT and Victoria have acted at state level, adopting their own state-based Charters.
Western Australians must be afforded similar protections.
A Charter would not guarantee rights, but it would provide an important check. It would also ensure human rights are taken into account by Parliament when new laws are made. A Charter of Rights would serve as an important tool in having essential needs met, as is currently the case in jurisdictions like Victoria, the ACT and the UK. It could help ensure all Western Australian children have access to a quality education, no matter where they live. And that all people have access to healthcare, no matter their income. It would ensure that our personal privacies are protected from infringement by governments, individuals or corporations.
The Charter could be used specifically to address rights-based issues like the mistreatment of children and young people in our prison system; elder abuse; modern slavery; access to education for children with disability, or that vexed issue of people with intellectual disability facing indefinite imprisonment.
The last few days I have again witnessed the horrific failings of our mental health system. Another First Nations child, just 14 years old, is far from home in Banksia Hill Detention Centre. His family have been fighting for years to have his mental health needs met. While not a panacea, a Charter recognising the right to essential services like mental healthcare could have served as a powerful tool in their fight.
In developing a Charter, Western Australians should be given the opportunity to list the basic rights we all believe are important enough to deserve legal protection. Our Charter, as is the case for Queensland’s Human Rights Act, would likely acknowledge that human rights are not absolute, sometimes they conflict with each other, and they may be subject to reasonable limits that can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.
With the myriad of challenges we are currently facing – COVID-19, climate change, homelessness, Aboriginal deaths in custody, infringements on press freedoms – it is more important than ever that power is transferred back to the people; that we have a mechanism to hold Government to account and which sets clear obligations as to how we expect the state, organisations and individuals to treat people.
Elections are only one part of a free and democratic society. Democracy’s success rests on a foundation of shared values, rights and freedoms. As Western Australians we share values like fairness, respect and compassion. By codifying and legislating these we strengthen our democracy. Given the challenges our society is currently facing, surely this can only be a good thing.
Header photo: Greens at the Invasion Day Yarning Circle at Yagan Square, 2021. Connor Slight