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Comments
on the Bill
The
Association commends the work of the Review Team and believes they
have presented Government with a sensible and credible proposal
for restructuring and refocusing New Zealand’s human rights
institutions.
The
Association was involved in the consultation process, and we’re
happy to see that our and other non-government organisations’ comments,
issues and suggestions have been acknowledged and included in the
report.
We
are pleased to lend our support and endorse the Review Team’s recommendations,
especially in regard to a new national human rights institution
focussing on education and awareness about human rights, and a national
plan of action. Our submission makes specific comments on these
recommendations and also touches briefly on some general issues
in the report.
National
Human Rights Institution
The
Association welcomes and fully endorses the recommendation that
Government restructure and refocus our existing human rights institutions
(namely, the Human Rights Commission and Race Relations Office)
to establish a new National Human Rights Institution (NHRI).
We
agree that the new institution must play a community leadership
role in human rights and have a strategic focus on increasing public
understanding of human rights, leading constructive discussion within
the community about human rights and encouraging positive interaction
between different individuals, groups, communities and cultures
within society.
There
are also specific recommendations for the NHRI that we welcome and
make comments on below, including focussing on community education
and awareness of human rights, providing a single point of entry
for complaints and managing complaints through a dispute resolution
framework.
Focus
on education
Many
of the 580,000 enquiries annually to bureaux are made because people
are not aware of their rights (be it conditions of work, eligibility
for income support, or consumer law). There are many reasons for
this, including a lack of information or knowledge on the part of
the individual or the agency they are dealing with.
It
is our experience that providing good information and having effective
communication and education across the whole community helps fill
this information or knowledge gap, therefore ensuring peoples’ rights
are met. The Association suggests that the NHRI be mandated to
work closely with non-government organisations to ensure effective
education and accessible information is widely available in the
community about the broad range of human rights.
The
Association also suggests that the NRHI focus special attention
on vulnerable groups. For example, in our experience new migrants
regularly have their rights breached, particularly in respect of
housing and employment. Ensuring migrants’ rights are protected
should go some way to improve their settlement experiences, which
is a key Government immigration policy.
Single
point of entry
The
Association is concerned about the confusion in the community of
the different roles of the various human rights offices, and therefore
would strongly advocate for a single point of entry into human rights
institutions for the community. The NHRI should be this point.
We would further argue that the Commissioners for Children and Health
& Disability should, at an appropriate stage, be integrated
with the NHRI.
We
appreciate that these offices are currently being reviewed or are
undergoing changes. Until such time that these offices become a
part of the NHRI, there should be a simplified or streamlined single
point of entry into them via the NHRI. That is, the NHRI could
act as a clearinghouse for complaints and enquiries about all ‘rights’
matters. The Privacy Commissioner, while being a separate office,
should also be accessible through the clearinghouse.
Disputes
resolution
The
Association fully supports and endorses the recommendations that
the NHRI manage complaints through a disputes resolution framework,
and that District Court Judges sit on the Complaints Review Tribunal
and it be given increased status.
National
Plan of Action
The
Association is extremely supportive of the National Plan of Action
proposal, and we endorse the recommendations made by the Review
Team.
It
is important that Government and human rights institutions continue
to build strong relationships with non-government organisations
and the broader community. This will be especially important for
the development the National Plan of Action. The Association is
looking forward to being involved in the process.
Further
issues covered in the review
The
Treaty of Waitangi and human rights law
The
Association agrees that there needs to be a focus on improving community
and government understanding of the linkages between the Treaty
of Waitangi and human rights, and the Treaty’s relationship with
domestic and international human rights law.
We
endorse the recommendation that Section 5 of the Human Rights Act
be amended to give the NHRI the specific function to encourage broad
discussion of the relationship between the Treaty of Waitangi and
human rights law.
Policy
development and Human Rights
The
Association fully endorses all recommendations in Part 6 on early
consideration of human rights issues and obligations in policy making.
We also anticipate that greater education about and awareness of
human rights will go some way towards improving the services government
department provide to the community.
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