For the general public
Professor Harris Rimmer and the review team are committed to listening to and prioritising the voices of Queensland citizens that may be most affected by a lack of human rights protections.
Everyone is invited to take part and we want to hear from as many people as possible about.
- your personal experiences of the Act;
- how well you think the Act is meeting its objectives:
- to protect and promote human rights;
- to help build a culture in the Queensland public sector that respects and promotes human rights; and
- to help promote a dialogue about the nature, meaning and scope of human rights.
- any additional human rights you think should be included as human rights under the Act;
- whether additional or different remedies should be made available under the Act;
- whether the amendments made by the Act to the Corrective Services Act 2006 and the Youth Justice Act 1992 are operating effectively;
- whether victim’s rights in the Victims of Crime Assistance Act 2009 should be included in the Act.
Discussion questions
- Have you had a personal experience related to the operation of the Human Rights Act? (for example, made a complaint to a department or the Queensland Human Rights Commission)
- Please tell us about your experience including any challenges you encountered.
- Do you have any suggestions for how this could have been a better experience for you?
- The Human Rights Act currently includes civil and political rights, cultural rights (general and indigenous) and some economic and social rights (education, health). Are there any other rights that you would like to see included in the Act and protected in Queensland?
- What would including those new rights mean to you?
- What are some examples of where the current law does not protect human rights?
- Do the current laws strike the right balance between different rights?
- Do you think the Act has helped to build a culture of human rights in Queensland government departments and/or in organisations delivering government services?
- Please tell us about your experience.
- Do you have any suggestions for how this could be improved?
- What other measures (non-legislative) are required to ensure human rights are protected under the law in Queensland? (eg support, education, training and guidance to the community)
- How could the current complaints and dispute resolution processes be structured to better protect human rights?
- Please tell us about your experience.
- Do you have any suggestions for how this could be improved?
- The Human Rights Act currently requires that a complaint must ‘piggy-back’ another type of complaint to access remedies. Should a person be able to pursue a complaint based on a human rights infringement, independently?
- The Human Rights Act currently provides for limited remedies. What remedies should be available to people whose human rights have been infringed?
- The Human Rights Act made amendments to the Corrective Services Act 2006 and the Youth Justice Act 1992.
- Are the amendments made by the Act operating effectively?
- Do you think these changes were fair?
- The Human Rights Act says that in certain circumstances Parliament can pass laws even though they breach the Act.
- Has the Parliament’s power to override the Human Rights Act be used appropriately?
- Do you think any changes need to be made to this power?
- Should victims’ rights be incorporated into the Act?
- What are the future challenges to human rights you think Queensland will face?