ACT government urged to add the right to a healthy environment in Human Rights Act

The Human Rights Law Centre is urging the ACT government to lead the nation and introduce the ‘right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment’ into the Human Rights Act 2004.  

It warned that current laws are failing communities because they are failing the environment, as the 2021 State of the Environment report has shown.  

Rights to life, health, culture, water, food and a decent standard of living cannot be realised by everyone if people are simultaneously destroying the environment they live in. Enshrining the right to a healthy environment in law is one step on the road to the urgent change needed in the face of the triple planetary threat of climate change, rampant pollution and escalating environmental degradation.  

Australia recently supported a landmark resolution by the UN General Assembly to formally recognise a standalone right to a healthy environment at international law but has not taken any steps to date to implement this right into Australian law. 

The ACT Government is inviting public submissions about whether and how such a right should be included in the Human Rights Act. If it does so, it would be the first government in Australia to formally recognise this right in law.  

Adrianne Walters, Associate Legal Director, Human Rights Law Centre said: 

“At a time when climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss are threatening the health and livelihoods of many people and communities, there is a pressing need to find new ways to protect the precious ecosystems on which human life depends. 

“At the same time environmental laws across Australia are failing to achieve their primary purpose – to protect the environment – which in turn has an increasingly detrimental impact on human rights.” 

The Human Rights Law Centre’s submission points to the unique opportunity that the ACT government has to provide a model for law-makers across Australia in becoming the first jurisdiction to recognise a standalone right to a healthy environment. 

“Amending the ACT’s Human Rights Act to include the right to a healthy environment will not only help safeguard the environment for future generations, it will set the standard across Australia,” Walters said. 

“Over 155 countries globally recognise the right to a healthy environment through national and regional laws. Governments across Australia should take note. The status quo has changed. A healthy environment is a human right, and it must be protected at all costs.” 

The Human Rights Law Centre’s submission urges the ACT Government to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ACT play a central role in defining the right to a healthy environment.  

The oppression of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights, knowledges and practices by governments since colonisation is a key driver of the current climate and environmental crisis. Redressing these injustices and honouring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights, knowledges and practices are key to addressing this crisis. 

“Climate change is exacerbating the racialised environmental, social and economic injustices that colonisation was founded on, posing acute threats to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights to Country, culture and wellbeing. It is critical that the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ACT are prioritised in the drafting of this right and that their rights, knowledge and practices are recognised by the ACT Government,” Walters said. 

“The ACT Government should be commended for continuing to look at how the Human Rights Act can light the path towards an Australia where human rights are at the heart of every decision made by governments. Making sure every person can enforce their human rights is another important step the ACT Government can take.” 

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