Charter reform discussion paper: Ensuring our human rights laws are fit for modern-day Victoria 

The Commission’s Charter reform discussion paper celebrates 20 years of achievement and looks forward to what needs updating in the Charter to keep up with a changing Victoria. 

The reforms outlined in the discussion paper will better protect the rights of all people in Victoria, promote better understanding of those rights and empower people to seek justice if their rights are violated.

 

The Charter sets out 20 civil, political and cultural rights and freedoms of all people in Victoria. 

The Charter provides support for the Victorian parliament to consider human rights when making laws, for public servants to act compatibly with human rights when making decisions, and for courts to interpret all laws consistently with human rights.

The Charter does not tell decision makers what to decide, it provides them with a framework on how to decide – Am I limiting someone’s rights? Is the limit necessary? Is it proportionate to what I am trying to achieve? Is there a less restrictive option reasonably available to me? 

Through this guidance, the Charter has continued to make Victoria a fairer, safer, more inclusive place to live. 

Victoria has changed in the last 20 years. We’ve seen the global financial crisis, international conflicts, greater impacts of climate change, COVID-19, the infiltration of social media into our lives, the rise of AI. 

There have been two statutory reviews of the Charter since its commencement, in 2011 and 2015. These made thoughtful, practical recommendations on how to make the Charter more accessible, effective and practical.  

The ACT and Queensland have incorporated many of these recommendations into their equivalent laws, and a federal parliamentary committee has recommended a national Human Rights Act reflecting many of the same reforms. 

Despite this progress in similar jurisdictions, the Victorian Charter has not been substantially amended since it commenced operation. 

The Charter was never meant to be a stagnant document. It is time to update the Charter to recognise the challenges of modern Victoria.

New rights – in addition to the rights already included in the Charter, the addition of economic and social rights would have a real-world impact of the lives of people in Victoria today. These include the right to housing, the right to education, the right to health, and the right to a healthy environment. 

Participation duties – adding a right for children and people with disability to participate and to be consulted would bring Victoria in line with international law and ensure young people and people with disabilities have a say in decisions that impact their lives. 

The community expects the Charter will improve their lives by protecting their freedoms, liberty and dignity. The first 20 years of the Charter has shown where it could operate more efficiently and effectively. 

There are a range of ways the Charter could be improved. This includes: 

• allowing people to challenge a breach of their human rights the way they can challenge any other government decision 

• giving courts and tribunals the power to order effective remedies for breaches of rights, including damages where nothing else will repair the harm 

• allowing people to bring human rights complaints to our Commission for fast, free, informal resolution 

• making it possible for representative complaints to be brought about Charter rights 

• creating an equal access costs model 

• removing the power of Parliament to override the Charter 

• clarifying how courts and tribunals interpret other laws in relation to Charter rights, increasing confidence and creating more rights-respecting laws for all.