Human rights

Our vision is for a modern, fair and responsive Queensland where we respect, protect and promote human rights. The Human Rights Act 2019 (the Act) protects the rights of everyone in Queensland. You don’t need to be a resident, or have a particular citizenship or visa status to be protected.

The main objects of the Act are to:

protect and promote human rights
help build a culture in the Queensland public sector that respects and promotes human rights
help promote a dialogue about the nature, meaning and scope of human rights.

What are human rights

Human rights are inherent to all of us, regardless of our race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language or any other aspect. In Queensland, the Act protects the following fundamental human rights, drawn from international human rights law:

These rights are recognised in international human rights treaties including the:

The human rights protected under the Act are not absolute. This means they must be balanced against the rights of others and public policies.

Our obligations under the Act

Public entities have a responsibility to respect, protect and promote your human rights. They must do this with their actions and decisions—in practice, this means fairer laws, policies and public services.

Under section 58, the Act requires public entities to act and make decisions in a way that is compatible with human rights, and to properly consider human rights when making decisions.

An act or decision is compatible with human rights if it does not limit a human right or only limits a human right in a way that is reasonable and justifiable.

What are public entities?

Public entities are:

Queensland Government departments and agencies
local governments in Queensland
public sector employees
ministers
a private business or non-profit organisation that is performing a function on our behalf
courts and tribunals (when acting in an administrative capacity).

Making a human rights complaint

If you believe a public entity has not done what it must do under the Act, you can make a formal complaint.

To lodge a human rights complaint, you first need to reach out to the public entity that you believe has not done what it must do under the Act. Make sure you include detailed information about the act or decision that has affected you and how you believe it has impacted your human rights.

Once your complaint is lodged, we have 45 business days to respond.

If you don’t receive a response within 45 business days or you believe the response is not adequate, you can reach out to the Queensland Human Rights Commission (QHRC).

Learn more about how to make a human rights complaint by watching our video.

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In Queensland, the Human Rights Act protects specific human rights by requiring that public entities:

act and make decisions in a way that is compatible with human rights, and
consider human rights before making a decision.

The Act protects 23 internationally recognised human rights, such as the right to life, right to privacy and the right to education.

You can find out more about the rights protected under the Human Rights Act by visiting the Queensland Government website or the Queensland Human Rights Commission.

Under the Queensland Human Rights Act, public entities are:

state government departments and agencies
public service employees
Queensland Police Service and other emergency services
State Government Ministers
public schools
public health services such as hospitals
local governments, councillors, and council employees
organisations providing services of a public nature.

If you think a public entity hasn’t met its obligations under the Act, you can lodge a complaint.

Before lodging your complaint, you need to make sure that the public entity has made a decision that affects and limits your human rights.

Steps to submit a human rights complaint

First

You need to reach out and complain directly to the public entity that you believe has acted incompatibly with your human rights. This provides the public entity with an opportunity to engage with you and help resolve the complaint.

To make a human rights complaint you need to:

Provide details of the act or decision that has impacted you, including how it has impacted your human rights
Explain how the act or decision has infringed on your human rights

and/or

Explain why you believe the public entity did not give proper consideration to your human rights when making their decision.

If you’re not sure whether your complaint involves your human rights, make sure you include enough information to help the officer who receives your complaint understand what happened.

Providing detailed information in your complaint can save you and the public entity time.

Second

Once your human rights complaint is lodged, the public entity has 45 business days to respond.

You and the public entity should make a genuine effort to resolve the complaint during this period.

If you don’t receive a response within 45 business days, or if you believe the response is inadequate, you can submit your complaint to the Queensland Human Rights Commission.

You can find more information about human rights and complaints at www.qld.gov.au/humanrights.

Complaints to government departments

Each department or agency has its own process in place to manage complaints. There is information about how you can reach out on their websites:

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