Right to Education

Right to Education

Speech by Simon Corbell MLA, Attorney General

10 December 2012

Thank you for that welcome, Helen.

I would like to acknowledge my fellow speakers, Professor Andrew Byrnes from the University of New South Wales, Ms Diane Joseph, Director-General, ACT Education and Training Directorate, Ms Moira Najdecki, Director, Catholic Education Office and Mr Andrew Wrigley, Executive Director, Association of Independent Schools.

I would also like to acknowledge my Assembly colleagues present here today.

I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we are meeting on, the Ngunnawal people, and thank Violet Sheridan for her Welcome to Country.

I acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region.

I acknowledge and welcome other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people attending today’s event.

International Human Rights day is special day.

It is a day that encourages each of us to take a moment to focus on the greater truths that underpin our work.

We are inspired by the belief thatour efforts contribute to building a stronger community- one that is based on principles of fairness, equality and respect.

It is this belief that gets us to the office, community meetings and charity events throughout the year. It is this sense of working towards for a common goal that makes Canberra and Australia so great.

It is easy to forget that the principles that guide our daily lives are the same principles that underpin the human rights we hold dear and actively protect in the ACT:the right to be protected from discrimination, and have your relationship recognised regardless of your sex, the right to be safe at work regardless of which occupation you choose and the right to access the highest quality education, including free school education for every child, regardless of your background. These are fundamental rights.

I am proud that, as a government, we have worked towards strengthening these fundamental human rights.

The ACT government is committed to upholding these greater ideals, and ensuring that the Human Rights Act is not just words – that it has an active influence on all we do. We have worked towards achieving this in a number of ways.

For example, we have seen that three organisations chose to opt in to the Human Rights Act this past year.

It is a sign that the community, as well as Government, is embracing and publicly committing to human rights.

I commend Amnesty International, Relationships Australia and ADACAS for committing to be bound by the Human Rights Act.

We have continuedto work towards ensuring that same sex couples receive equal recognition of their relationships by passing the Civil Unions Act, which allows same sex couples to celebrate their commitment to each other with a civil ceremony.

As I said during the recent election campaign, this government strongly believes that same sex couples should have the same relationship rights as heterosexual couples, and as such, we will continue to work towards same sex marriage.

As reflected in the focus of today’s agenda, a key element of our work last year was to introduce the first economic, social and cultural right into the Human Rights Act, with the right to education commencing on 1 January 2013.

The ACT is the first jurisdiction in Australia to legislate for the protection of an economic, social or cultural right.

This was the culmination of work completed by many people here today.

The government committed to considering the inclusion of economic, social and cultural rights in the Human Rights Act at the time of its passage in 2004, and again later in 2008.

The government honoured that commitment in 2010 by partnering with the Australian National University and the University of New South Wales to produce the Australian Capital Territory Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Research Project Report.

As many of you know, this work was led by Professor Andrew Byrnes, who is speaking today, and Professor Hilary Charlesworth from the Australian National University.

The Government’s response to that report was also informed by extensive consultation, to which we received nearly 200 responses and submissions.

The Report was the first in Australia to examine how best to introduce economic, social and cultural rights in statute law, and the likely impacts on governmentin the ACT.

I am proud to be the Attorney-General of a jurisdiction that is focussed on looking forward, that is not afraid of being at the forefront in human rights in Australia.

The recent amendments to the Human Rights Actensure the right to access free school education, both primary and secondary, and access to the wide range of further education, vocational and continuing training opportunities in Canberra, without discrimination.

As part of the government’s commitment to human rights, the operation of the right to education will be reviewed in 2 years time.

I am most pleased that our work over the past 8 years is having a clear impact on wider governance in the Territory.

As I said when the Human Rights Amendment bill was debated “It is pleasing, and I think this is the first time, that amendments to the Human Rights Act have achieved the support, at least in principle, of all three parties in this place. That is a significant development.”

This is an achievement in itself that cannot be understated, and I thank everyone here today for the role that you have played in promoting the Human Rights Act over the years.

The ACT is not falling behind the Commonwealth in regards to human rights. The ACT and Commonwealth models are very different. The Commonwealth model is limited to oversight and does not provide a source of substantive rights in the same way as the ACT Human Rights Act.

There is no independent internal consideration of whether bills are compatible in the Commonwealth model.The Commonwealth model does not provide for any accountability mechanisms outside the scrutiny process, whereas the Human Rights Act provides that the Supreme Court may issue a declaration of incompatibility.

We are introducing economic, social and cultural rights following an incremental approach, recognising that we are a small territory and have limited resources. The five year review of the Human Rights Act found that using an incremental inclusion process for the introduction of rights created a strong human rights culture within the Government.

This research supports using an incremental approach as the most appropriate way to introduce additional rights within the ACT. An incremental approach will also provide an opportunity for public authorities to adapt policies and practices to the new right and for the Government to make an informed decision about whether to introduce further economic, social and cultural rights.

The ACT Human Rights Act requires all legislation to be interpreted in a way that is, as far as possible, consistent with human rights.The government’s decision to follow an incremental approach to the inclusion of economic, social and cultural rights is appropriate for the ACT. Following an incremental approach means that all rights within the Human Rights Act will be subject to scrutiny. This follows the approach taken for the introduction of civil and political rights within the ACT.

Introducing the right to education is just one more step in the ACT’s human rights journey. The Human Rights Act commits the government to review the inclusion of the right to education, and possible inclusion of additional ESCR after two years. The government has already committed to using the 2-year review to consider the possibility of incorporating additional rights in the Human Rights Act. The review will consider the experience of the Commonwealth in implementing its framework.At the moment, there is limited evidence of how the model will operate in practice and the impact on Commonwealth agencies and legislation development.

Including the right to education in the ACT Human Rights Act underscores, in the strongest possible terms, that every single person in our community is entitled to the best possible education so that they can maximise their opportunities and realise individual goals.

Today, I am honoured to be able to officially launch the ACT Human Rights Commission’s pocket Human Rights ACT 2004 and right to education factsheet.

I congratulate the Human Rights Commission on the production of these valuable resources, and commend their ongoing commitment to community education.

These two publications will not only assist public authorities and the wider community to understand the new right, they will raise awareness of the importance of this right for all Canberrans.

Thank you again to the ACT Human Rights Commission for organising this morning’s event.

Happy International Human Rights Day.

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