Amnesty International Australia has made a submission to the Law Reform Commission’s review of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW) (ADA).
The recommendations contained in this submission aim to ensure that everyone in New South Wales can live free from discrimination.
The rights to equality and freedom from discrimination are central to human rights. Our work on non-discrimination is grounded in human rights treaties including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CROC) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
In accordance with these treaties, Amnesty calls for states to take measures that prohibit discrimination as well as positive measures to address systemic disadvantages.
It is Amnesty’s strong view that the most important action the NSW government can take to protect the human rights of people in NSW is a Human Rights Act. Such an Act would protect all the rights of people in NSW, and alongside the ADA, establish a framework that ensures that all people’s rights are universal, indivisible, and can be realised, reflecting international human rights standards.
It would, for example, ensure that any oversight body established to protect people with innate variations of sex characteristics in medical settings, must consider human rights when making decisions. This is a crucial step in preventing the ongoing serious human rights violations of unnecessary, non-consensual surgeries on intersex children and young people.
In a situation where one right impacts or impinges on another rights, an Act would fairly balance these rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights allows for rights to be balanced with each other so that the restriction of rights is not disproportionate or unnecessary, and respects human rights. A Human Rights Act for NSW would, for example, allow the fair and appropriate balancing of the right of a person to hold a religious belief and the rights of LGBTQIA+ people to live free from discrimination.
Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 10 million people who take injustice personally. We are campaigning for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all – and we can only do it with your support.
Act now or learn more about our human rights work.
