On 26 June 2024 the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights tabled its Report 5 of 2024, which provides an analysis of the human rights compatibility of recently introduced bills and legislative instruments.
Defence Amendment (Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence) Bill 2024
- The committee is seeking further information regarding the compatibility with the right to freedom of expression of two secrecy offences that prohibit the disclosure of information and documents.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Bill 2024
- The committee considers that introducing a definition of NDIS support, with most of the detail to be set out in future NDIS rules, and requiring the minister to have regard to the financial sustainability of the NDIS in determining certain matters, risks being incompatible with multiple rights and suggests various amendments that may assist with the proportionality of these measures.
- In relation to expanding the circumstances in which the CEO of the National Disability Insurance Agency can request information and reports from a participant, the committee considers the information provided by the minister as well as the additional safeguards added to the measure are sufficient to address the committee’s human rights concerns with respect to this measure.
Social Security (Remote Engagement Program Payment) Determination 2023
- The committee concluded its consideration of this instrument in Report 12 of 2023 and welcomes the minister’s subsequent advice that she has asked the National Indigenous Australians Agency to consider the committee's findings when designing a new Remote Jobs and Economic Development Program and a new employment service for remote Australia.