Wrongs, Rights and Remedies: An Australian Charter?

In this essay Professor Spencer Zifcak and Alison King, argue that it is now imperative that Australia legislates comprehensively to protect human rights.

The authors point out that Australia’s legal protections against human rights violations are patchy and incomplete. The Australian Constitution says almost nothing about human rights, anti-discrimination laws provide only a scant and limited shield, and the common law can be overridden at any time by an ordinary Act of Parliament. The essay describes many areas in which human rights have recently been infringed.

The essay is available for download from the website of The Australian Collaboration.