Why a Fair Go should be the law

It’s been almost 71 years since the United Nations proclaimed the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. This milestone document was announced at the United Nations in Paris on December 10, 1948 and set out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected.

Australia was a founding member of the United Nations and was instrumental in drafting the UDHR with Herbert “Doc” Evatt becoming the president of the UN General Assembly and overseeing the adoption of the UDHR.

Since then, we have enjoyed some significant human rights wins including legislating equal pay, the 1967 constitutional referendum on Aboriginal rights and the legalisation of same-sex marriage — in my 12 years as National Director of Amnesty International Australia, we have seen a number of important changes, but the struggle for equality is not over, there is still much more to do.

The successful Marriage Equality plebiscite showed that Australians not only value protecting people’s rights, but doing so in law. Which begs the question, why then, are we the only Western democracy that doesn’t protect everyone’s rights in law, through a charter of human rights?

Human rights are not a right-wing/left-wing argument, or one of party politics - they should be at the heart of policy decisions no matter who holds government.

At their core, human rights are about respecting the dignity of everyone. Someone’s quality of life should not be determined by factors