A Human Rights Act for SA
South Australia needs a Human Rights Act to secure the dignity and equality of all South Australians and to facilitate our active participation in the democratic life of our State.
We believe a Human Rights Act would make an immediate positive difference to our community by ensuring that every one of us is treated with dignity and has the opportunity to thrive, uniting us around a set of common values, clearly defining the expectations we have of each other and our State institutions, and providing accessible remedies or resolutions when rights have been ignored or undermined.
A Human Rights Act for SA could provide a pathway out of some of the intractable debates around substandard service delivery or unfair government decision making, and help prevent some of the rights-impacting problems that have emerged during the COVID-19 contexts – including problems associated with denial of the right to vote, neglect and abuse in aged care and residential facilities, discrimination in schools and workplaces, lack of privacy protections for personal information and many more.
A Human Rights Act for SA would reward and build upon existing best practice and would make sure that all South Australians have a chance to identify and articulate the common values and rights that unite us. It would also help our parliamentarians by identifying practical alternatives to rightsabrogating practices or policies, clarifying and consolidating existing statements and charters of rights in South Australian law, and providing efficient legal pathways for constituents to address unfair or inadequate decision-making or treatment.
We’ve worked together to set out what a South Australian Human Rights Framework could look like. Check out these resources to find our more:
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Plain English Briefing on a Human Rights Act for SA
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Time for a HRA4SA: Submission Writing Workshop Slides
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Case Studies that show how the Human Rights Acts in QLD, Victoria and the ACT are benefitting different groups
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Rights Resource Network Submission to the Social Development Committee of the South Australian Parliament Inquiry into the Potential for a Human Rights Act for South Australia December 2024
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150+ organisations and experts sign our joint statement: 'Proposing a Human Rights Law for South Australia'
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Designing a Human Rights Framework for South Australia Final Report February 2022
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SACOSS Policy on a Human Rights Act for SA
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Law Society of South Australia Policy on a Human Rights Act for SA
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2022 Election Scorecard: Human Rights Act for South Australia?
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