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Final submissions are now in for the National Human Rights Consultation. The consultation is an initiative by the Rudd Government to ascertain Australians views on the current state of human rights in Australia. The three Key Consultation Questions asked are, ‘Which human rights and responsibilities should be protected and promoted?’, ‘Are human rights sufficiently protected and promoted?’, ‘How could Australia better protect and promote human rights?’ Hayley Conway co-convenor of the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby said as part of the VGLRL’s submission it has called for legislation similar to Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities. “In terms of discrimination and accessibility, the first thing we are asking for is a piece of legislation that does enshrine many of these social and political and economic rights for GLIBTQ community specifically but for the broader community too,” Conway said. Conway said another suggestion is to look at how this would be enforced. “Will there be an ombudsman’s or someone like a human rights commissioner who would actually receive complaints, or would it be a small branch of one of the existing government agencies where they receive complaints and let people know that they are in breach and that’s the extent of it? Or will it be an extensive complaints and reconciliation process?” Public hearings on the National Human Rights Consulation begin this week in Canberra. Corey Irlam, spokesperson for the Australian Coalition for Equality, will speak on discrimination faced by GLBTI people, and Tasmania activist Rodney Croome will talk on the issue of same-sex marriage.
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