The ACT Parliament’s passage of legislation enshrining the right to a healthy environment is a watershed moment in human rights and environmental law in Australia, according to the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) and the Human Rights Law Centre. [1]

EDO and the Human Rights Law Centre applaud the ACT Legislative Assembly’s vision and courage in recognising access to a healthy environment as a basic human right and a prerequisite for its citizens to enjoy happy, healthy lives.

“This is a momentous day for all those advocating for a right to a healthy environment in Australian law and for ACT communities that will benefit from this historic legislation,” EDO Director Nicole Sommer said.

“We congratulate the ACT on leading the nation and urge legislators in other jurisdictions to follow the territory’s lead. EDO has advocated for the recognition of the right to a healthy environment in Australia for over 20 years, since a Bill of Rights was first considered for the ACT in 2002.

“A healthy environment is fundamental to everything we as humans hold dear. However, until today it has been overlooked by Australian legislators. The passage of this legislation today corrects that critical oversight, at least in the ACT, and maps a way forward for other states and territories.”

Human Rights Law Centre Senior Lawyer Jack McLean said: “Our human rights depend on a safe and healthy environment. As the source of our food, water, and air, a healthy environment holds the key to our survival and wellbeing.

“Governments across Australia should be doing everything they can, in collaboration with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, to protect human rights in the face of the extraordinary threats posed by the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and rampant pollution.

“We applaud the ACT Government for enshrining a right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment in the Territory’s Human Rights Act.

“This is a huge win for people and communities across the ACT. The new law will help safeguard the environment for future generations by ensuring that this right is at the heart of government decision-making.

“The ACT Government has followed the lead of 160 countries around the world that are already protecting the rights of their citizens to a healthy environment by providing essential guarantees regarding access to clean air, water, and soil.

“Other governments across Australia are tragically lagging behind and should take note that the status quo has changed — access to a healthy and safe environment is a human right, and it must be protected.”

In July 2022, the Australian Government supported a landmark resolution in the UN General Assembly to formally recognise a standalone right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment at international law.

To date, the ACT is the only Australian jurisdiction that has enshrined this right in domestic law. The Commonwealth Joint Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights recently recommended that the right to a healthy environment be enshrined in federal law as part of a national Human Rights Act.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment has defined the right to a healthy environment to include the following substantive elements: clean air; a safe climate; access to safe drinking water and sanitation; healthy biodiversity and ecosystems; toxic-free environments in which to live, work and play; and healthy and sustainably produced food. [2]

REFERENCES

[1] Human Rights (Healthy Environment) Amendment Bill 2023

[2] David R Boyd, Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, Human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, UN Doc A/74/161 (15 July 2019).

EDO REPORTS

August 2022: EDO published a national report on the right to a healthy environment in Australia: A Healthy Environment is a Human Right.

MEDIA CONTACTS

EDO | James Tremain | 0419 272 254

Human Rights Law Centre | Jack McLean | 0439 988 975