The right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment in the Human Rights Act 2004 took effect from 17 March 2025. Section 27C(1) of the Act provides that ‘everyone has the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.’
Section 41 of the Act gives the Commission the ability to review the effect of territory laws, including the common law, on human rights. The ACT Human Rights Commissioner, Dr Penelope Mathew, is undertaking a series of reviews of the effect on human rights of existing territory law, and its implementation, that impacts on the natural and built environment.
The reviews will assess the law, policy and practices of the relevant ACT public authorities against the growing collection of international and domestic case law and other rulings, and literature regarding the right to a healthy environment, alongside other relevant human rights.
The reviews are aimed at engaging and educating public authorities, and the community, about the new right to a healthy environment and how to fully realise the right. The first review will focus on clean air.
For more information see our terms of reference:
- ToR Review on the right to a healthy environment, clean air PDF 120KB Word doc 298KB
Get in touch
We welcome inquiries or feedback on these reviews and the new right to a healthy environment: righttoahealthyenvironment@act.gov.au
More on the right to a healthy environment in the ACT
More information on the scope of this right.
Read our previous submissions on the right: