2023 Report on the Operation of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities – September 2024

The 2023 Charter Report is divided into sections covering the three arms of government that have responsibilities to uphold human rights:

• human rights in courts and tribunals
• human rights in law making
• the Charter and public authorities.

Cases before courts provide an important mechanism for individuals and groups to assert their Charter rights, obtain remedies and achieve more rights-compliant outcomes. The Charter also allows the Commission to intervene in court proceedings to assist the court to understand and apply the Charter.

The Charter ensures human rights are considered at every stage of the law-making process in Victoria. All bills introduced into parliament must be accompanied by a statement of compatibility, which provides an overview of any human rights impacted by a bill and why any proposed limitations are reasonable and justified. In 2023 the Victorian Parliament actively engaged with the Charter and contemplated human rights issues during parliamentary debates and in the law-making process – including in the areas of Treaty, mental health and affirmative consent.

The Commission’s Charter Education Program (CEP) continues to deliver tailored human rights education across government departments, agencies, statutory authorities, local government and functional public authorities.

In 2023, the Commission delivered 67 human rights education sessions to 977 participants located in a range of public sector departments and agencies. In addition, public sector staff completed 7,080 Charter e-learning modules.