Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, I present the committee's report entitled Human rights scrutiny report: report 4 of 2023.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

I ask leave of the House to make a short statement in connection with the report.

Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is leave granted?

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Given the honourable way the member took his defeat on the golf course, leave is granted.

Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tehan by name and teein' off by nature—there we go! I am pleased to table the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights' fourth scrutiny report of 2023. In this report, the committee has considered 13 new bills, and 102 legislative instruments. The committee has commented on one of these bills and four legislative instruments.

In particular, the committee is seeking further information in relation to the Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Income Management Reform) Bill 2023 and two related legislative instruments, to assess the human rights compatibility of laws relating to income management.

The committee is also seeking further information as to the human rights compatibility of two legislative instruments, one which redesignated Nauru as a regional processing country and another that sets out the rules for assessing whether a person meets the work related impairment levels for assessing eligibility for the disability support pension.

The committee has also concluded its consideration of three legislative instruments. This includes consideration of the biosecurity determination that imposed entry requirements on passengers to provide proof of a negative COVID test prior to boarding a flight from China, Hong Kong or Macau. The measure was not time limited but was repealed shortly after the committee first reported on it.

The committee considers that, as this determination was designed to prevent the spread of new COVID variants, it likely promoted and protected the rights to life and health. As such, and as the determination has now been repealed and had exemptions for individual circumstances, the committee considers any limit on human rights by this determination was likely reasonable and proportionate.

However, the committee notes that such determinations are not required to be strictly time limited, other than sunsetting after 10 years. The committee is concerned that there is no legislative requirement to regularly review such determinations. This contrasts with earlier determinations made during the COVID pandemic (under different parts of the Biosecurity Act) which had to be remade every three months. The committee has therefore recommended that the Biosecurity Act be amended to provide that a determination made under these provisions must not be in force longer than the period that the health minister considers necessary and in any case, not longer than three months.

The committee also concluded its consideration of the Fair Entitlements Guarantee Regulations which continue the scheme of financial assistance for textile, clothing and footwear industry contract outworkers in situations where their employer has become insolvent. This promotes the right to just and favourable conditions of work for those eligible for financial assistance. However, the committee has concluded that, as only Australian citizens and permanent residents are eligible, there is a risk that this may not be a proportionate limit on the rights to equality, nondiscrimination and just and favourable conditions of work. The committee has recommended that the regulations be amended to give some discretion to provide the assistance for otherwise ineligible migrant workers based on consideration of their individual circumstances.

Finally, I'm pleased to advise the House that the Attorney-General has referred a year-long inquiry to our committee to examine Australia's human rights framework. This is a timely review of our important human rights framework, and I am very pleased to be doing this work together with my committee colleagues. A significant part of this inquiry will be hearing evidence as to whether the Australian parliament should enact a human rights act and, if so, what elements it should include. The inquiry will also be examining the remit of our committee, the role of the Australian Human Rights Commission, and developments in Australian human rights law since 2010. Submissions are now open, and I look forward to updating the House on the progress of this important inquiry.

As always, I thank the committee staff, who have done an extraordinary job and a huge amount of work not only for this report but also for the upcoming inquiry. With these comments, I commend the committee's Human rightsscrutiny report:report 4 of 2023 to the House.