Submission to Inquiry into the National Human Rights Action Plan

This document is a submission made in 2012 by the APS to the Attorney-General’s Department’s Exposure Draft of Australia’s National Human Rights Action Plan.

In this submission, the APS draws on available evidence that recognises the important relationship between human rights and mental health and wellbeing. As such, the submission welcomes the draft Human Rights Action Plan as an important mechanism for realising and improving human rights responses on the part of Australian Governments.

The submission also recommends a strengthening of protection for individuals and groups who experience discrimination and disadvantage, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, gay, lesbian, bisexual and sex and/or gender diverse people, migrants, refugees and asylum seekers and those impacted by climate change.

The APS submission calls for a stronger human rights legal framework to ensure respect and equality for all people, and recommends that the Australian Government introduce a Human Rights Act or Charter as part of its commitment to strengthening human rights in Australia.

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