Protecting us all: 2012 report on the operation of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Page 8

6 Protecting us all: 2012 report on the operation of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities

Four-year review of the Charter

The Victorian Parliament's Scrutiny of Acts and
Regulations Committee (SARC) conducted a four-
year review of the Charter in 2011. This was the
first formal review of the Charter, undertaken in
line with the process set out in section 44.

The review examined whether additional human
rights should be included in the Charter, including
economic, social and cultural rights, women's
rights and the rights of children. The review
also considered whether the Charter should
include the right to Indigenous self-determination,
whether regular auditing of public authorities
should be mandatory and whether a remedies
provision should be added to the Charter.

SARC's review provided an opportunity for a
broad range of people and organisations to give
their views on how the Charter is working and the
impact it is having on the lives of Victorians.

More than 4,000 submissions were received, with
the overwhelming majority supporting the Charter
or calling for it to be strengthened.

SARC presented its review report to Parliament
on 14 September 2011. The report made 35
recommendations for changes to the Charter
and to practices for encouraging human rights
compliance in public authorities.

In March 2012, the Victorian Government
announced its response to the review report.
It reaffirmed its commitment to human rights
and said "legislative protection for those rights
provides a tangible benefit for the community".

The Government expressed support for many
of the recommendations in the report, including
recommendations to strengthen parliamentary
scrutiny processes, to improve internal complaints
processes and to develop a framework for
assessing the costs and benefits of the Charter.

It also indicated its support for some specific
improvements, including:

· proposing that SARC report annually on the

human rights impacts of amendments and
regulations made under national uniform
schemes

· amending the Premier's Guidelines to

require the publication of draft human rights
certificates as part of the regulatory impact
statement process

· considering how to ensure that legislative

amendments made after a Bill is submitted to
Parliament are subject to human rights scrutiny

· reviewing drafting practices for statements of

compatibility

· incorporating human rights considerations

into public authorities' complaints processes
and encouraging public authorities to advise
people with human rights complaints that they
may request investigation by the Ombudsman.

In 2012, SARC reported on national uniform
schemes in its Annual Review.

National uniform

schemes involve the passage of uniform
legislation across the States and Territories in
Australia. This can be through the passage of
the same legislation in each jurisdiction, or the
adoption of a host jurisdiction's legislation, to
create a scheme of uniform regulation across
Australia. The Applied National Energy Retail Law
and the National Health Practitioner Regulation
Law are examples of these national schemes.

Feedback received by the Commission indicates
that there have been some changes to how
statements of compatibility are drafted across
government.

In addition, the Government accepted SARC's
recommendations:

· to not include additional economic, social and

cultural rights, women's rights or children's
rights in the Charter

· to not include Indigenous self-determination in

the Charter

· to not provide for an independent cause of

action or remedies

· to not make auditing mandatory.

In its response, the Government noted that "there
is an ongoing place for the courts in protecting
rights in relation to the Charter". It committed to
seeking further legal advice on the role of the
courts and tribunals in relation to the Charter
and the obligations on public authorities. The
Government also indicated that it will seek advice
on the coverage of rights in the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that are not
currently addressed in the Charter.

The Commission welcomes the Government's
commitment to human rights principles and will
continue to work with the Government and the
state's public authorities to improve human rights
outcomes for all Victorians.

1 The

Charter Review Report, the Victorian

Government's Response and details of the inquiry
process are available from <http://www.parliament.
vic.gov.au/sarc/article/1446>.

2 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee,

(2013) Annual Review 2012 available at <http://www.
parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/sarc/
annual_reports/Annual_Review_2012_body.pdf>.