New South Wales Parliament will hold an inquiry into whether the state should introduce a Human Rights Act, after both the government and the Coalition signalled their support.
The move follows a private member's bill introduced last year by Greens MP and human rights spokesperson Jenny Leong, proposing a similar model to existing legislation in Victoria, the ACT and Queensland. Without referral to an inquiry, the bill would have lapsed on March 26.
Calls for a Human Rights Act in NSW has backing from more than 120 organisations, including Indigenous, legal and human rights groups, and is also supported by five crossbench MPs who regularly side with the minority Labor government to pass legislation.
On Wednesday, the Legislative Assembly — including the Minns Government and the Opposition — voted in favour of proceeding with the inquiry.
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In a statement, Ms Leong, who will chair the inquiry, said: "At a time when fractures in our community run wide and deep, and so many are feeling the pressures of everyday life, NSW parliament is at a critical inflection point: we can choose to offer hope, or we can choose to fuel hate."
She said a Human Rights Act would provide people across the state with a "valuable tool to use to ensure their basic human rights and dignity are respected - and to take action when they are not".
"It would completely transform the public sector from one in which human rights are an afterthought to one that truly has the community's best interests at heart," Ms Leong added.
Advocates have long argued that stronger legal protections are needed in New South Wales, particularly for First Nations people.
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 also stressed that any consultation process must include First Nations voices.
"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."
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.
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Supporters of the proposal point to the experience of other jurisdictions. 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.
He noted that, unlike the Closing the Gap agreement, Queensland's Act is enforceable, and similar protections should be considered at a national level.
In New South Wales, more than 50,000 COVID-19 fines were later overturned by the Supreme Court after being declared invalid. A report also found disadvantaged and First Nations children were disproportionately targeted by police during the pandemic, with fines of up to $5,000 pushing some families into financial hardship.
