The Operation and Impact of Australia's Parliamentary Scrutiny Regime for Human Rights

The Australian constitutional framework for the protection of human rights is unique among democratic nations. It alone lacks a national Human Rights Act or Bill of Rights. Instead, the framework seeks to improve rights protection by enhancing deliberation within Parliament. To this end, the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 (Cth) requires federal Bills and legislative instruments to be accompanied by a statement as to their compatibility with a number of international human rights conventions. These claims can be examined, and other human rights matters investigated, by a Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights. This process of human rights vetting of legislation differs from that of other nations in that there is no scope for Bills or regulations to be struck down or declared inconsistent by the courts. This article evaluates this model of human rights protection by analysing the operation and impact of the regime in light of key indicators of its effectiveness.