Human Rights Essay - Importance of a Bill of Rights in Australia

Running head: HUMAN RIGHTS ESSAY 1
Human Rights Essay
Students Name
Institutional Affiliation

HUMAN RIGHTS ESSAY 2
Human Rights Essay
Introduction
Setting the Scene
There is a widespread perception that Australia has a candid bill of rights. In the words of
Dixon (2016), Australia is the only country possessing primary democratic constitution on the
globe with justiciable human rights. The framers of the law found that the state saw no need for
the charter of human rights because there was a robust British Commonwealth tradition of the
protection of human rights and they feared that racial factory and mining laws could fragment
the support of the constitution (Commonwealth of Australia, 2009). The debate surrounding the
issue has some critics argue that the bill of rights in the country is narrow and in democracy and
comparative terms.
Background
Human rights are fundamental to all. Zifcak and King (2013) reiterate the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights that all people are born with dignity, have freedom, and rights
endowing them with reason and conscience to act towards one another with the spirit of
goodwill. The trajectory of human rights traces back to the prehistoric period where human
beings realised that they ought to consider one another with dignity (Ife, 2012). Throughout the
historical era, many organs and activism principles have laid the foundation for the future of
human rights protection. However, the 21st century presents the most comprehensive period
when stronger organs arose to safeguard the rights of all such as the United Nations (UN)
(Baylis, Smith & Owens, 2017). Formed after the WWII, the UN followed the collapse of the
League of Nations, and it owed the members the mandate to ensure continued tranquility.
Therefore, the United Nations Human Rights Charter was introduced as a measure to guarantee

HUMAN RIGHTS ESSAY 3
that the freedom and rights of all people would prevail at all times. Australia has made
significant steps in the implementation of human rights but the 2006 Charter of Humans Rights
and Responsibilities Act famously known as The Victorian Charter of Rights was the landmark
political and constitutional history in the country (Dixon, 2016). The Victorian letter of rights
based its premises on the 1998 the United Kingdom Human Rights Act and the 1990 New
Zealand Bill of Rights Act. The enactment of the law lay in the idea that Australia had a good
history of human rights protection making her require enhancement through improved protection
for these rights.
The Motivation behind Human Rights Consultations
Notably, Australia is the only democratic country in the world without a bill of rights.
According to Dizon (2016), a comprehensive framework for the protection of human rights is the
critical check of democratic governance in the contemporary political world. Therefore,
Australia requires enacting laws and reforms in their country to align with other nations in the
area of safeguarding the rights and freedom of their citizens. The propounded legal framework
will ensure that the nation stands firm on the law to guarantee every citizen their rights without
favouritism or double standards because of proper legislative frameworks to address the
situation. For instance, the forced removal of the children of aborigines from their families and
their detention raised the question of the preparedness of the country to resolve human rights
crisis in the nation (Harris, 2017). Australia remains behind in enacting a human rights bill and it
applies some traditionally founded mechanisms to deal with issues surrounding infringement of
people’s rights that have negative and positive implications requiring the enactment of human
rights charter in the country.
Body