ALHR Submission: Human Rights (Healthy Environment) Amendment Bill 2023
ALHR made a submission to the ACT’s Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety (the Committee) providing feedback on the Human Rights (Healthy Environment) Amendment Bill 2023 (‘the Bill’).
ALHR’s submission outlines our support for the articulation of the right to a healthy environment in the Bill, our significant concerns with the non-justiciability of that right as currently drafted, and broader comments on the need for meaningful consultation of certain groups and appropriate funding for the accessible complaints mechanism.
For further information on the scope and context of the human right to a healthy environment, please see ALHR’s submission to the August 2022 Justice and Community Safety Directorate Public Consultation to Inform Consideration of the Right to a Healthy Environment
Since 2020 ALHR has been a member organisation of the Global Pact for the Environment, a coalition of over 1,300 civil society organisations and climate advocates from over 70 countries calling for the global recognition of the right to a healthy environment.
ALHR is a strong supporter of the Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT) (HRA) and we acknowledge that, as one of only three states and territories to have introduced a legislated human rights framework, the ACT plays a significant role in leading the country on human rights compliance. We applaud amendments to the HRA introduced since 2004 which have expanded the scope of the human rights protected by the Act.
ALHR commends the introduction of s 27C of the Bill, which articulates the right to a healthy environment in a manner that is compatible and reflective of existing international human rights law. The current wording of s 27C ensures that all of the substantive and procedural aspects of the human right to a healthy environment will be protected in the ACT law. Those elements are as follows:
- The procedural aspects of the right extend to the right to access environmental information, meaningful and inclusive public involvement in environmental decision-making and access to justice;
- The substantive elements of the right include rights to clean air, a safe climate, access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation, healthy and sustainably produced food, non-toxic environments in which to live, work and play, and finally, healthy ecosystems and biodiversity; and
- The articulation of the human right to a healthy environment under s 27C of the Bill is commended and should be passed by the ACT Legislative Assembly without amendment.
- The right further imposes obligations upon governments to ensure there is equal access and non-discrimination in the protection and promotion of the human right to a healthy environment.
However, ALHR is concerned that the Bill currently renders the human right to a healthy environment non-justiciability by operation of proposed s 40C(5A) and (5B) of the Bill. The operation of that provision, in ALHR’s submission, establishes a hierarchy of human rights within the Act which is contrary to international human rights law, and in breach of procedural aspects of the human right to a healthy environment. Furthermore, those provisions are likely to undermine the potential positive normative impacts of the human right to a healthy environment, and in any event, are inutile by virtue of the justiciability of the right to life.
Recommendations
- The articulation of the human right to a healthy environment under s 27C of the Bill is commended and should be passed by the ACT Legislative Assembly without amendment.
- The non-justiciability restriction set out under s 40C of the Bill should be removed from the Bill.
- Given that there are no rights without remedy, the ACT Government should:
- ensure that the ACT Human Rights Commission (HRC), is adequately resourced such that it can receive and conciliate complaints about breaches of the right to a healthy environment;
- ensure the delivery of a program of human rights education, aimed at fostering understanding of the right to a healthy environment across the community, with particular attention to marginalised or disadvantaged groups;
- ensure adequate funding for legal advice services to give individuals information, legal advice and assistance about their human right to a healthy environment; and
- conduct an in depth consultation process engaging with the expertise of relevant bodies and stakeholders to receive guidance as to the precise nature of the resourcing that would be required to deliver (a), (b) and (c).
- That the ACT Government uphold the participation rights of people with disabilities, First Nations peoples and Children as it introduces and implements the right to a healthy environment.
Read ALHR’s submission in full here
Contact ALHR’s Human Rights and Environment Committee: ehr@alhr.org.au
Media Inquiries: media@alhr.org.au