Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable members for their contributions to the debate on this bill. This bill will restore integrity to appointments to the Australian Human Rights Commission and help maintain the commission's international credibility, as part of our broader commitment to the international rules based order. This bill is an essential part of the government's integrity agenda and will implement our election commitment to ensure that appointments to the commission are made through a merit based and transparent selection process. In addition, this bill will address the concerns raised by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions Sub-Committee on Accreditation when it deferred the commission's reaccreditation as an A-status national human rights institution. The effective functioning of our antidiscrimination system is dependent on the proper functioning of the Australian Human Rights Commission. It is essential that the commission is able to function as an independent statutory body and that the public has confidence that the commissioners that represent their communities are appointed solely on the basis of merit.

To address these concerns, the bill legislates a merit based and transparent appointments process for members of the commission by amending relevant provisions of the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, the Age Discrimination Act 2004, the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Racial Discrimination Act 1995 and the Sex Discrimination Act 1984. The bill will remove the ability of direct appointments to the commission without a merit based and publicly advertised selection process. Further, to address concerns raised by the Sub-Committee on Accreditation, the bill also addresses the tenure of members of the commission. The bill amends these acts to clarify that the total term of the president and commissioners is seven years, inclusive of any reappointment. Finally, the bill will make minor amendments to ensure consistency in the qualification requirements for the president and the statutory commissioners.

A number of honourable members have raised broader concerns about the Australian Human Rights Commission, including the member for Brisbane, who has moved a second reading amendment calling for the creation of a new statutory position of LGBTIQA+ commissioner at the Human Rights Commission. The government will not support that second reading amendment. Let's be clear about this: the effect of the second reading amendment, if it succeeds, would be to negate the bill, to stop these important measures that are contained in this bill from coming into effect. The House should reject this second reading amendment. This bill solely concerns the process for the selection and appointment of existing statutory members of the commission. The bill is being progressed as a priority in order to urgently and directly address the concerns raised by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions in its deferral of the reaccreditation of the commission as an A-status national human rights institution. While we of course understand the strong sentiment expressed by members of the community in support of a dedicated LGBTIQA+ commissioner, this bill is not the vehicle to create such a position. The government recognises that it is important to consider how best the commission can operate to promote and protect the human rights of all members of the Australian community, including LGBTIQA+ people. I acknowledge and commend the work that the commission already undertakes in relation to LGBTIQA+ rights, which is led by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins. There will no doubt be further discussion on this proposal, as well as, I hope, discussion on other opportunities to strengthen the work of the commission in the future.

The critical issue that this bill will address is restoring the international standing of the commission by urgently addressing the specific issues around transparent and merit based appointments raised by the global alliance to support the commission's reaccreditation. Broader concerns regarding the structure and operation of the commission should be considered separately to this important bill. I note that the opposition and crossbench members who have spoken have said that they support the bill. I thank the shadow Attorney-General for his support and for his contribution to the debate and thank those crossbench members for their expressed support for the bill.

An independent human rights commission is fundamental to Australia's human rights agenda, both internationally and domestically. This government strongly supports the work of the Australian Human Rights Commission and is committed to restoring integrity to the process of commissioner appointments. As I've said, the bill will support the commission's reaccreditation as an A-status human rights institution, which is necessary for its international legitimacy and credibility. Most importantly, the bill reaffirms our commitments to restoring integrity to government. I do thank again all honourable members of the House for their contributions to the debate and commend the bill to the House.

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