Worker union backs Human Rights Act

As the NSW Parliament considers the Human Rights Bill 2025, the Australian Services Union has voiced its support for the promotion of dignity, fairness and accountability across NSW public administration.

The NSW Parliament is conducting public hearings as part of its inquiry into the Human Rights Bill 2025, which could bring the nation’s most populous state one step closer to establishing such legislation.

The Australian Service Union's (ASU) submission focused heavily on the impact on frontline community and social service workers, who make up a strong proportion of the union’s membership.

The submission said: “For these workers, human rights are not abstract legal concepts. They are part of the decisions they make every day.”

“Our members understand better than most that laws alone do not protect human rights. Rights become meaningful only when they are reflected in the everyday decisions of governments, public authorities and the services that people rely on.”

In a statement, the Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) noted that NSW had slipped significantly behind comparable jurisdictions when it comes to legally protecting fundamental rights.

The ACT (2004), Victoria (2006), and Queensland (2019) have enacted human rights acts, along with comparable democracies such as Canada, New Zealand, and the UK, all of which have developed local human rights acts.

Experts have warned that the absence of a Human Rights Act in NSW leaves residents with some of the weakest legal protection of their human rights anywhere in the Western democratic world.

The committee has published 268 submissions and will now hear from a range of stakeholders over three days of public hearings this week. According to the Greens Party, over 85 per cent of the 268 submissions to the Human Rights Act were in favour, with less than 10 per cent opposed.

Public support for reform is proving quite strong, with recent polling by Amnesty International Australia finding that 76 per cent of people in NSW support introducing such an act in the state.

The ASU has called for the explicit enshrinement of the right to safe water and sanitation, full inclusion of social, economic and cultural rights, universal coverage for public and delegated authorities, and robust legislation implementation and oversight.

The ASU said: “A Human Rights Act would strengthen this work by requiring public authorities to properly consider the rights and interests of the people affected by their decisions.”

The Human Rights Bill 2025 was introduced by the member for Newtown, Jenny Leong, in October 2025 and referred to the Legislative Assembly Committee on Community Services in March. Inquiry public hearings began on Monday (2 November) and will continue this week in the Macquarie Room at Parliament House, Sydney.

The Australian Services Union (ASU) is part of the Human Rights Act for NSW alliance, a coalition including legal, community, faith and union bodies that are calling for the act’s legislation.

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