THE LAW SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
170 Phillip Street, Sydney NSW 2000, DX 362 Sydney T +61 2 9926 0333
F
+61 2 9231 5809
ACN 000 000 699
ABN 98 696 304 966
October 8, 2009
Law Society backs Human Rights Act.
The Law Society of NSW congratulates the National Human Rights Consultation Committee
for recommending a Human Rights Act in its consultation report released today by the Federal
Attorney General Robert McClelland.
President of the Law Society of NSW, Joe Catanzariti said the report was very comprehensive
and thorough and is a step in the right direction.
“Australians want to see that their human rights are protected in law and these
recommendations go a long way to ensuring that”, Mr Catanzariti said.
“This report has adopted most of the recommendations put to the Consultation Committee by
the Human Rights Committee of the Law Society and the legal community looks forward to
working with the government in implementing a Human Rights Act”, Mr Catanzariti said.
The Consultation Committee has recommended that legislation similar to the Victorian and UK
Acts
be introduced but with improvements arising from the
committees consideration of the
experience in those jurisdictions. Another improvement is the recommendation allowing only
the High Court to issue declarations of incompatibility which would avoid any risk of increased
litigation.
Mr Catanzariti welcomed the Consultation Committee’s recommendation proposing a human
rights education campaign across the community and commended the development of a Joint
Committee on Human Rights to review all Bills and relevant legislative instruments.
“The recommendations in this report apply only to federal authorities so it would be good to
see the NSW government introduce its own legislation similar to that of Victoria and the ACT
to cover state law”, Mr Catanzariti said.
“A Human Rights Act is good for the country and good for the community and I would urge the
government to act quickly to ensure that Australia is in line with the rest of the western world”,
Mr Catanzariti said.
Media Contact: Sean Brogan 0407 436 709 or 9926 0250
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