The presidents of the NSW Bar Association and the Law Society of NSW are calling for the Human Rights Bill 2025 to have its own public inquiry.
Recently, NSW Bar Association president Dominic Toomey SC and Law Society of NSW president Jennifer Ball (pictured) called for the Human Rights Bill 2025 – which was introduced on motion by Greens Senator Jenny Leong on 23 October 2025 – to be referred to a parliamentary inquiry for consultation and review.
Toomey noted that the NSW Bar Association has frequently worked alongside First Nations people, minority groups, children, people with disabilities and other disadvantaged members of the community, who were not granted appropriate protection.
He stressed that this public inquiry would provide expert opinions to assist the Parliament in developing a robust Human Rights Act that will meet the needs of communities in NSW.
Ball said an appropriately framed legislation could not only bolster human rights in NSW, but could also help to promote social cohesion through the provision of fairness and justice in the community.
On 20 October 2025, an open statement was endorsed by over 100 parties, which called for a parliamentary inquiry into the bill. One of the statement’s supporters, HRA4NSW spokesperson and Australian Lawyers for Human Rights vice president Kerry Weste, said that it unified a diverse range of voices who want “justice, equality and a ‘fair go’ for all”.
“Referring this bill to an inquiry will give everyone in NSW the chance to participate in a community-wide conversation about putting in place a similar law to protect the wellbeing and dignity for everyone in our state,” Weste said.
Human Rights Act for NSW (HRA4NSW) noted that human rights acts have already been passed in the ACT (2004), Victoria (2006) and Queensland (2019). It stressed: “There has never been a better time for an inquiry into a Human Rights Act for NSW.”
As previously reported on by Lawyers Weekly, a joint report from the Whitlam Institute and the Human Rights Law Centre noted that 80 per cent of submissions were in support of an Australian Human Rights Act in nationwide inquiries in 2008 and 2024.
During a speech for the second reading of the bill, Leong said: “We know that legislating human rights does not mean everyone will have access to enjoying those rights immediately or that governments of the day must respect them, but a Human Rights Act would give people a direct course of action when these rights are denied, and it would require this Parliament and all public bodies to consider the human rights implications of every policy and decision that they make.”
Carlos Tse is a graduate journalist writing for Accountants Daily, HR Leader, Lawyers Weekly.
