You can now make a complaint about an alleged breach of human rights by ACT government agencies, and organisations proving services on behalf of the ACT government, including:
The ACT Human Rights Act protects the rights of everyone in the Canberra community. You don't need to be a resident, or have a particular citizenship or visa status to make a complaint. A complaint can be about any breach of your rights in the ACT.
These new provisions on human rights complaints came into effect on 11 June 2024 - but you can raise a complaint about an alleged breach which occurred before this date. You can also lodge a complaint about a proposed ACT Government action or decision if you believe it will breach your rights.
If the matter is old we will need to consider issues like the agency’s ability to respond to the claim, availability of information and documentation, other ways the matter might have already been dealt with or could have been dealt with, before we accept it.
If you think your human rights have been breached or limited in the ACT you should first make your complaint to the relevant ACT government agency.
The agency has 45 days to respond to the complaint and try and resolve it directly with you.
If the matter is urgent or there is an immediate and serious impact on your safety, health, education, housing or other time dependent concern, you can contact the Commission without contacting the agency first, and we will see if you can make the complaint directly to the Commission.
If you think your complaint might also be about discrimination, a health service complaint, a service for children or young people, or another type of complaint we handle, you can also make a human rights complaint if you think your human rights have been breached or limited by the same situation or events. If you are making a complaint on multiple grounds and it includes a human rights complaint, you do not need to make the complaint to the agency first; you can lodge those complaints directly to the Commission.
If a matter is not resolved at conciliation the Commission will close the complaint. If the Commission is concerned about the issues raised by the complaint, the Commission may provide a report to the respondent making recommendations about how they could improve their procedures, services or compliance with human rights. The Commission may also report publicly about systemic human rights issues highlighted by complaints. If this is done any identifying personal information will be removed.
The Commission cannot determine that there has been a breach of human rights. If a person is seeking a determination that their human rights have been breached, they are able to make an application to the Supreme Court to have their matter heard and determined but that is a separate process provided for by s.40 of the Human Rights Act. Read more about Human Rights in the Courts.
A quick outline of the rights in the Human Rights Act is below. These rights are not absolute and can be limited by laws that are reasonable and justifiable in our free and democratic society. For example, the right to freedom of expression is limited by defamation law or vilification laws in the ACT.
Everyone is entitled to equal and effective protection against discrimination, and to enjoy their human rights without discrimination.
Every person has the right to life and to not have their life taken. The right to life includes a duty on government to take appropriate steps to protect the right to life and to investigate where unexpected deaths occur. The right to life applies from the time of birth and does not cover embryos or unborn children.
People must not be tortured. People must also not be treated or punished in a cruel, inhuman or degrading way. This includes protection from severe ill-treatment or humiliation. This right also protects people from having medical treatment or experiments performed on them without their full and informed consent.
Families are entitled to protection. Children have the same rights as adults with added protections that they require to grow and develop healthily.
Everyone has the right to keep their lives private. Your family, correspondence, home or personal information cannot be interfered with, unless the law allows it.
People can stay in or leave the ACT whenever they want to as long as they are here lawfully. They can move around freely within the ACT and choose where they live.
People have the freedom to think and believe what they want – for example, to practice a particular religion or hold personal convictions. They can do this in public or private, as part of a group or alone. No one can be coerced in a way that would limit their freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief.
People have the right to join groups, unions and to meet, organise or protest peacefully.
People are free to say what they think and want to say. They have the right to find, receive and share information and ideas. This also covers protection of a free press and media reporting. In general, this right might be limited to respect the rights and reputation of other people, or for the protection of public safety and order.
Every person has the right to take part in public life, including the right to vote or run for public office or apply for a position in the public service on equal terms.
Everyone has the right to freedom and safety. The right to liberty includes the right to not be arrested or detained except in accordance with the law. The law must ensure that people are generally brought before a court and tried quickly. The right to security means that reasonable steps must be taken to ensure the physical safety of people who are in danger of physical or mental harm.
People have the right to be treated with humanity when arrested, detained or subject to restrictions on their freedom of movement.
A child charged with committing a crime or who has been detained without charge must not be held with adults. They must also be brought to trial as quickly as possible and treated in a way that is appropriate for their age. Children are entitled to opportunities for education and rehabilitation in detention.
A person has a right to a fair hearing. This means the right to have criminal charges or civil proceedings decided by a competent, independent and impartial court or tribunal after a fair and public hearing. This right also extends to procedural fairness to ensure that all parties to a dispute have equal chance to effectively prepare and argue their case.
There are a number of minimum guarantees that you have when you have been charged with a criminal offence. You have a right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. You also have the right to be told the charges against you in a language you understand; the right to an interpreter if you need one; the right to have time and the facilities (such as a computer) to prepare your own case or to talk to your lawyer; the right to have your trial heard without too much delay; the right to be told about Legal Aid if you don’t already have a lawyer; and you don’t have to testify against yourself or confess your guilt unless you choose to do so.
You have a right to compensation where you suffer punishment because you are unlawfully convicted of a crime on the basis of a clear miscarriage of justice.
A person can only be convicted and sentenced once for a crime. Appeals and retrials can occur, but a person can only be punished once for each crime. If they are found to be not guilty they will not be punished.
A person has the right not to be prosecuted or punished for things that were not criminal offences at the time they were committed or to have heavier penalties imposed on them than applied at the time of the offence.
A person must not be forced to work or be made a slave. A person is a slave when someone else has complete control over them.
People can have different family, religious or cultural backgrounds. They can enjoy their culture, declare and practice their religion and use their languages.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples hold distinct cultural rights and must not be denied the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage and distinctive spiritual practices, observances, beliefs and teachings, languages and knowledge and kinship ties. They must have their connection to land and waters recognised and valued.
Every child has the right to primary and secondary schooling. Every person has the right to have access to further vocational or continuing education, without discrimination. Religious or private schooling choices by parents must be respected by Government.
Everyone has the right to work, to choose their occupation or profession and to the enjoyment of just and favourable terms of employment. Everyone has the right to form or join a work-related organisation including a trade union.
Keep an eye on this page for information about these rights in a child-friendly format which is currently being developed.
Everyone has a right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and to enjoy that right without discrimination. This means you have a right to clean air, a safe climate, access to safe and sufficient water and to healthy and sustainably produced food, non-toxic environments and healthy biodiversity and ecosystems.
The framing of the right mirrors the recognition of this right by the United Nations General Assembly in July 2022.
The ACT Government must support this right by facilitating access to environmental information, engaging in genuine public participation and consultation on environmental decisions and providing for access to justice in legal processes about environmental issues.
We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the ACT and recognise any other people or families with connection to the lands of the ACT and region. We acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region.