The New South Wales crossbench has called for an inquiry into proposed legislation which would require government bodies to consider the impact of human rights in all decisions, laws and policies they make.

Greens MP Jenny Leong wrote to NSW Premier Chris Minns in response to the bill she introduced in October proposing a Human Rights Act. The proposal has the backing of more than 120 organisations — including Indigenous, legal and human rights groups — as well as five crossbench MPs who regularly side with the minority Labor government to pass legislation.

The NSW Labor platform, re-endorsed in 2024, commits to community consultation on new laws to strengthen protections for residents' human rights.

Ms Leong introduced the private member's bill in October, proposing a model similar to those already operating in Victoria, the ACT and Queensland. The bill will lapse on March 26 if it is not referred to an inquiry.

This week, she said similar legislation in NSW would be a vital step to "ensure people are the priority for decisions made".

"Earlier this year, the ACT Supreme Court used the ACT Human Rights Act to find in favour of public housing tenants who were challenging evictions handed to them by the government - and they were allowed to stay in their homes," she said.

"It's more evidence that a human rights act is far from a lofty, feel-good document: it's a powerful tool for people in tough positions to access their basic rights like the right to a secure and safe home."

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Speaking last year, Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT chief executive Karly Warner said new legislation was essential, arguing that First Nations people's rights are routinely violated in prisons, the child protection system and by police. She added that any consultation must ensure First Nations voices are included.

"Enacting a Human Rights Act for NSW could provide much-needed protection and recourse for when these rights are not upheld as they should be," Ms Warner said.

"Having a Human Rights Act would bring NSW in line with Victoria, Queensland and the ACT, where human rights protections are already enshrined."

Amnesty International Australia strategic campaigner Nikita White said it was time for NSW to implement the reforms.

"Enshrining our human rights in NSW law would put human rights at the centre of all decision-making in this state," she said. "It would enable people in NSW to challenge human rights abuses, right wrongs, and create a fairer future for everyone."

Speaking to National Indigenous Times last year, former Queensland Human Rights Commissioner Scott McDougall said the state's Human Rights Act — which his office helped develop and legislate — proved highly effective during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike the Closing the Gap agreement, he said Queensland's Act is enforceable and similar protections should be adopted nationally.

In NSW, more than 50,000 COVID-19 fines were overturned by the state's Supreme Court after being declared invalid. A report last year also found disadvantaged and First Nations children were disproportionately targeted by police during the pandemic, with fines of up to $5,000 driving some families into financial hardship.

ANTAR national director, Blake Alan Cansdale, said "for too long, the inherent human rights of Aboriginal peoples have been treated as optional in NSW".

"A Human Rights Act would help change that, by embedding fairness, dignity and accountability into the way that the NSW Government makes laws, develops policy and delivers services," he argued last year.

Despite the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, NSW continues to incarcerate First Nations people at an "increasingly and alarmingly high rate". Between June 2023 and June 2025, the number of Aboriginal adults in custody rose by about 18 per cent, while the number of Aboriginal young people in detention increased by about 36 per cent.

Last year also recorded the highest number of Indigenous deaths in custody in NSW since records began in 1979.

Last week, a scathing report by the NSW Audit Office found agencies responsible for prisoners in the state had failed to implement formal partnerships, shared decision-making and a healing framework, despite those measures being required under Closing the Gap and the NSW Government's Aboriginal Affairs Plan.