Bill of rights makes rights real

17/03/2009

A bill of rights will not solve Australia’s problems but will help build a society where human rights are an everyday reality for people, New Zealand Human Rights Chief Commissioner, Rosslyn Noonan will tell a conference in Melbourne next week.

Ms Noonan said Australia could learn from New Zealand’s experience in human rights laws as it debates the need for national Charter of human rights.

Ms Noonan will present a keynote address to more than 400 people at the Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission conference on Tuesday.

Ms Noonan said the real power of human rights laws lay in a practical approach to delivering programs and services to ordinary people rather than a heavily legalistic approach.

She said one her Commission’s first challenges was to “take human rights out of the lawyers’ offices and into the community.”

“For example, we have tried to help people recognise that human rights apply equally to the victims of violence as they do to the rights of those accused of, or found guilty of, violence.”

Ms Noonan said responsibility to respect human rights extends well beyond the State, to local government, to the business and community sectors, to voluntary groups and organisations

“Each and every one of us has a duty to exercise our rights responsibly and to acknowledge and respect the rights of others,” she said.

Rosslyn Noonan is available for interview.

Media contact Janeen Lynch 0419 33 77 34