A Human Rights Act will benefit people living in rural, regional and remote areas in New South Wales
A Human Rights Act will help to create a fair, just and equal society for everyone. When human rights are protected by law we have a framework to ensure that we are all treated fairly, and with dignity, equality and respect.
Factors such as geographic isolation, harsh climate conditions, and the instability of regional economies can limit access to essential services, opportunities, and infrastructure.
The below case studies show how Human Rights Acts already operating in other places are helping people living in rural, regional and remote areas. People in NSW deserve this protection too.
Right to be heard about natural disasters
During the initial stages of the Bushfires Royal Commission all applications made by victims for permission to appear were denied. Advocates argued that the “right to life” in the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities brings with it the need for a proper investigation when people have died, and that the families of victims had a right to be part of that process. They also said that the “right to life” was relevant when looking at what public services could do better in the future. Following this advocacy victims were granted permission to appear before the Royal Commission to tell their stories.
Source: Federation of Community Legal Centres, Victoria, Strengthening Victoria’s Human Rights Charter, Submission to the Four Year Review June 2011.
Right to access healthcare
A woman living in Wodonga with a heart condition needed to travel from her home in Wodonga to her cardiologist in Albury for an upcoming appointment. Due to COVID, there were cross border travel restrictions. She was meeting a bureaucratic brick wall from Victoria to get the necessary permission because she had a NSW drivers licence which Victoria incorrectly thought was suspended. She was able to complain to the Ombudsman which investigated and resolved the issue for her allowing to her to travel for her healthcare.
Source: Victorian Ombudsman, The Ombudsman for Human Rights: A Casebook, p. 35
At a Coronial Inquest into Deaths in Doomadgee (2022-2023), the Coroner explicitly applied Human Rights Act (QLD) to examine the adequacy of primary health services and hospital care provided to Aboriginal women in a remote community. The Coroner's findings focused on the right to life, the right to access health services, and cultural rights.
Source: Queensland Human Rights Commission, Case Note: Inquest into RHD Doomadgee Cluster: https://www.qhrc.qld.gov.au/_media/documents/case-notes-interventions/Inquest-RHD-Doomadgee-case-note.pdf
School Bus Accessibility in Victoria
Under Victoria's Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006, some public transport operators are considered public authorities and must act compatibly with human rights. The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission has relied on the Charter and anti-discrimination laws to advocate for more accessible public transport, including improvements to school bus services and regional transport infrastructure for people with disabilities. The Commission has argued that accessibility barriers in regional and rural areas can limit equal participation in education and community life.
Source: Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, Submission to the 2012 Review of the Disability Standards for Accessible Transport [14 June 2013].
Right to privacy
In Queensland a woman's application to home school her child with a learning disability was refused by the Department of Education because she didn't provide a residential address. The woman had provided a town name, mobile phone number and postal address. She wanted to keep her home address private as she and her children had moved to escape domestic violence. She wanted to keep her family safe from her former partner who had successfully located her in the past. With help from the Cairns Community Legal Centre, the woman asked the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal to review the Department's refusal decision. The Tribunal approved her home schooling application, relying heavily on the Queensland Human Rights Act. The Tribunal referred to relevant rights including the child's right to protection in their best interests, to access education appropriate to their needs, and the family's right to privacy. The Tribunal interpreted the education legislation in a way that was compatible with these rights as required by the Human Rights Act – allowing her to home school her child without revealing their home address.
Source: de Kretser, H. (2025, July 23). A human rights vision for rural and regional Australia [Speech]. Australian Human Rights Commission. https://humanrights.gov.au/about-us/media-centre/speeches/hugh-de-kretser/human-rights-vision-rural-and-regional-australia
Right to an adequate standard of living
The Rural and Regional Adjustment (Remote Communities Freight Assistance Scheme) Amendment Regulation 2023 was subject to human rights compatibility scrutiny under Queensland's Human Rights Act 2019. The accompanying Human Rights Certificate concluded that the regulation was compatible with human rights, while the Explanatory Notes stated that the scheme was designed to reduce freight-related cost-of-living pressures on households in the Northern Peninsula, Torres Strait and Gulf regions by lowering the cost of essential goods.
Source: Explanatory Notes: Rural and Regional Adjustment (Remote Communities Freight Assistance Scheme) Amendment Regulation 2023 and Human Rights Certificate: Rural and Regional Adjustment (Remote Communities Freight Assistance Scheme) Amendment Regulation 2023. Prepared under Part 3 of the Human Rights Act 2019.
Right to equality and cultural rights
An Aboriginal man, Mr Cemino, applied to the Magistrates’ Court in Echuca in country Victoria to transfer the criminal charges he was facing to the Koori Court in Shepparton for sentencing. Mr Cemino wanted to go before his elders in the Koori Court to discuss the circumstances around his actions. There is no Koori Court in Echuca. The Magistrates’ Court in Echuca refused his application, based on the Magistrate’s understanding of the ‘proper venue’ principle, which is the principle that a case is to be heard at the venue nearest to the place where the offence was alleged to be committed, or the place of residence of the defendant. Mr Cemino appealed the decision partly on the grounds that his cultural rights and right to equality under the Charter were not properly considered. The Supreme Court found the Magistrates’ Court erred by giving primacy to the proper venue principle and should have considered Mr Cemino’s rights when deciding whether to transfer the proceedings to the Koori Court. This is because the Charter requires that all statutory provisions be interpreted in a way that is compatible with human rights so far as it is possible to do so consistently with their purpose. The Supreme Court ordered the Magistrate’s decision be set aside and allowed Mr Cemino to have a different Magistrate consider his transfer request.
Source: 2018 Report on the Operation of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities, p. 79; Cemino v Cannan [2018] VSC 535.
Which rights?
Human Rights belong to all of us, not matter who we are or what our potscode. Regardless of their geographic location, New South Wales residents should have their human rights protected. People living in rural, regional and remote areas of New South Wales often find it hard to enjoy their human rights because of their location. Their location may impact their enjoyment of:
The right to education (protected in the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child)
The right to the highest attainable standard of health (protected in the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights)
The right to an adequate standard of living (protected in the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights)
The right to vote (protected in the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights).
In order for the rights like these to be protected in law in NSW we need a Human Rights Act