101 cases
of how Human Rights ACTS make our lives better
No matter who we are or where we are, our lives are better when we all treat each other with fairness and respect and when we can all enjoy our rights and freedoms. Human Rights Acts and Charters promote respect for human rights and give people power to take action if their rights are breached.
The 101 cases set out here highlight the benefits Human Rights Acts and Charters have brought to people in the ACT, Victoria and Queensland. These cases also highlight the need for a national Human Rights Act, as well the need for Acts or Charters in states and territories which do not yet have them.
We designed this resource to inspire people to use Human Rights Acts and Charters where they exist in Australia; and to join with others in calling for a national Human Rights Act and Charters in every state and territory.
Click here to add your name to the call for a Human Rights Act.
CASE STUDIES
Aboriginal children jailed in adult prison: Human Rights Act in action
Bendigo mosque and freedom of religion: Human Rights Act in action
Will Ingram and the right to equality: Human Rights Act in action
Queensland and the right to housing: Human Rights Act in action
The right to education for children seeking asylum: Human Rights Act in action
Victorian pandemic laws: Victorian Charter of Rights in action
101 Cases
Human Rights Acts and Charters Make Our Lives Better.
Here are 101 cases showing how
Case 19: Ensuring interpreters in tribunal proceedings for people with limited English
The Commission wrote to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal after it became aware that people in proceedings who spoke very limited English were not always being provided with free interpreters.
Case 34: A woman uses Charter to negotiate culturally appropriate crisis accommodation
A woman seeking assistance from a crisis accommodation service advised that, as a practising Muslim, she could not reside in a premises with men.
Case 36: Coercive questioning by police breaches freedom of movement and right to privacy
Mr Kaba, a black man, was a passenger in a vehicle that was subject to a random stop and search by the police.
Case 53: Man with a disability protected from eviction
A Victorian Department attempted to evict a man who used a wheelchair from his home.
Case 64: Man needing home and community care services receives appropriate support worker
A man who needed home and community care services from his council but was unable to speak or understand English was provided with a support worker who was unable to communicate with him in his own language.
Case 74: Guardianship revoked due to incompatibility of decisions with human rights
A woman with a cognitive disability contested the decision of her guardian to have her moved into a residential facility where no workers spoke her language, understood her cultural and religious beliefs or would prepare food in a way which was required by her religion.
Case 79: Teenage sisters separated from family avoid homelessness
Two teenage sisters were studying full time and living in public housing with their parents.
Case 87: Preventing a young man’s eviction into homelessness
Abdi Mohamed, a 21 year-old man living in accommodation provided by a transitional housing provider was given a 120 day notice to vacate in accordance with the provider’s ‘youth tenancy policy’.
Case 100: Hard lockdown of public housing towers breaches human rights
In 2020, after COVID-19 cases began emerging in nine high-rise public housing towers in inner north Melbourne, the Victorian Government imposed, without notice to residents, an extremely hard lockdown, detaining around 3,000 people in nine public housing towers.