Rights protected in the ACT Human Rights Act
The human rights listed below are protected by the ACT Human Rights Act. This means
- that all ACT government agencies and anyone doing government work must consider your human rights before making a decision that affects you or your family
- ACT government agencies and their contractors must act consistently with human rights.
Most human rights are not absolute however and are subject to certain limits. Sometimes the human rights of one person can conflict with the human rights of another person. Sometimes human rights may be limited if there are justifiable reasons for doing so, those limits are set by law, and there’s no other less restrictive way to obtain a legitimate purpose.
Rights protected by the ACT Human Rights Act 2004 include:
- Freedom of movement (s.13)
- Freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief (s.14)
- Freedom of association (s.15)
- Freedom of expression (s.16)
- Freedom from forced work (s.26)
- Equality (s.8)
- Life (s.9)
- Protection from torture (s.10(1))
- Protection from experimentation and medication treatment without consent (s.10(2))
- Protection of the family (s.11(1))
- Privacy, family, home, correspondence and reputation (s.12)
- Take part in public life (s.17)
- Liberty and security (s.18)
- Humane treatment when deprived of liberty (s.19)
- Minorities (s.27(1))
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (s.27(2))
- Children generally (s.11(2))
- Children in the criminal process (s.20)
- Fair trial (s.21)
- Criminal proceedings (s.22)
- Compensation for wrongful conviction (s.23)
- Not to be tried or punished more than once (s.24)
- Retrospective criminal laws (s.25)
- Education (s.27A)
- Work and rights in work (s.27B)
- Right to a healthy environment (s,27C)
Information about rights protected by other laws in the ACT can also be found at: