Australia is one of the few countries in the world without basic rights protected in the Constitution. This means fundamental human rights like our freedom of speech, the right to a fair trial and protection from arbitrary imprisonment risk being trampled on.

The decade and more of the Howard Government has revealed how vulnerable we are to encroachments on our liberties.

The treatment of refugees, new anti-terrorism laws, inroads on privacy and curbs on political expression and press freedom have all shown the importance of putting in place a new legal framework for the protection of human rights.

Australia is a signatory to many of the major international agreements that should guide the development of this framework, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. But the Howard government has shown how easy it is to ignore such international conventions. That is why fundamental rights need protection in Australian law.

The Greens' solution

There have been a number of important steps towards protecting human rights in Australia. The formation of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, and following the lead of the ACT the recent passage of a Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 through the Victorian Parliament are important milestones.

The time has come to build on these initiatives and put in place the protection of human rights across the country.

Enshrining a bill of rights in our Constitution would be a watershed in Australian history and would be an enormous step forward for democracy and progress.

The ALP has said a referendum will be held in 2010 on four year terms, The Greens would prefer this referendum to be a vote on a bill of rights.

The Greens want to bring Australia in line with the rest of the world and enshrine fundamental human rights and responsibilities in law

The Greens will work in Parliament for:

• A referendum in 2010 to enshrine human rights in the Constitution.
• A doubling of the budget for the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission to $30 million.

pic credit: RaeA

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An Australian Bill of Rights.pdf	09/03/09 12:58 am	47.86 KB