ACT Human Rights Act research project

The aim of the ACT Human Rights Act research project was to document the impact of Australia's first Bill of Rights – the ACT Human Rights Act 2004 – over its first five years of operation.

Project team

The project team was comprised of the following researchers:

• Professor Hilary Charlesworth – Chief Investigator, 2004-2009
• Professor Andrew Byrnes – Chief Investigator, 2004-2009
• Dr Renuka Thilagaratnam – Director, 2009
• Dr Gabrielle McKinnon – Director, 2004-2008

Final report

The ACT Human Rights Act research project was completed in July 2009. Its findings are detailed in a final report – The Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT): The First Five Years of Operation (PDF 1.58MB).

The final report was tabled in the ACT Legislative Assembly by the Attorney General, Mr Simon Corbell.

Progress reports

The final report was preceeded by two progress reports which were presented as conference papers:

• The ACT Human Rights Act 2004 – The Second Year (2006) (PDF 1.13MB) – a paper presented by Dr Gabrielle McKinnon at the ‘Australian Bills of Rights: the ACT and Beyond’ conference, 21 June 2006, Canberra
• The ACT Human Rights Act 2004 – The First Year (2005) (PDF 1.6MB) – a paper presented by Dr Gabrielle McKinnon at the ‘Assessing the First Year of the ACT Human Rights Act’ conference, 29 June 2005, Canberra.

Working papers of the project

The following papers provide public access to the research which led to the final report:

• Creating a Human Rights Culture within the ACT Government: Report on Interview Research Assessing the Impact of the Human Rights Act 2004 on the ACT Public Service (PDF 2.6MB), October 2008
• Working Paper 3: Giving Meaning to a Culture of Human Rights (PDF 58KB), Gabrielle McKinnon, September 2006
• Working Paper 2: Case Comment on SI bhnf CC v KS bhnf IS [2005] ACTSC 125 (PDF 88KB), Gabrielle McKinnon, May 2006 (published in the Canberra Law Review, Vol 9, 2006, p21-30
• Working Paper 1: The ACTHRA and the Anti-Terrorism Act (No.2) 2005 (PDF 99.6KB), Andrew Byrnes and Gabrielle McKinnon, April 2006 (published as A. Byrnes & G. McKinnon, ‘The ACT Human Rights Act 2004 and the Commonwealth Anti-Terrorism Act (No 2) 2005: A Triumph for Federalism or a Federal Triumph? (PDF 1.93MB)’ in: Fresh Perspectives on the “War on Terror”, eds. M. Gani & P. Mathew, ANU E Press 2008, pp361-377).