A proposed Human Rights Act was introduced to the NSW Parliament in October 2025. Knowmore is advocating to see the human rights of children, victims and survivors recognised and protected in law.
Knowmore’s Senior Advocacy and Law Reform Officer, Melanie Morgan, at NSW Parliament House with the Human Rights Act for NSW Alliance for the introduction of the proposed Human Rights Act.
Knowmore advocates for all Australian jurisdictions to have human rights laws that reflect best practice standards for the protection of children’s rights and victims’ and survivors’ rights. We have recently seen significant steps forward as part of our work with the Human Rights Act for NSW Alliance.
As of December 2025, only Victoria, Queensland and the ACT have existing Human Rights Acts. The experiences of these jurisdictions over many years have demonstrated that Human Rights Acts can contribute to fairer laws, policies and government decisions and improve the day-to-day lives of individuals and communities. For example, these laws have helped to ensure that people are treated fairly and equally in areas such as health and housing.
While these laws provide some important protections for children, they do not recognise the distinct rights of victims and survivors, including their rights during criminal legal processes.
In Knowmore’s view, children’s, victims’ and survivors’ rights must be recognised and protected as human rights, on an equal basis with all other rights.
The campaign for a Human Rights Act for NSW has been gaining momentum. Knowmore has actively contributed to the campaign as part of the Human Rights Act for NSW Alliance. In October 2025, we celebrated the introduction of a proposed Human Rights Act to the NSW Parliament. The proposed law includes important protections for children, as well as a nation-leading provision to recognise the rights of victims of crime.
Our Senior Advocacy and Law Reform Officer, Melanie Morgan, was in the NSW Parliament when the Bill was introduced and joined members of the Human Rights Act for NSW Alliance to advocate for a public inquiry so that people across NSW can have their say on what a Human Rights Act would mean for them. We also made a joint media release with the Alliance, which included a quote from Jackie Mead, CEO of Knowmore:
Knowmore welcomes this important first step in NSW towards recognising and protecting the human rights of everyone in our community. We particularly welcome recognition of the rights of children and young people and victims and survivors of violence, who too often face legal systems that are weighted against them and only cause further harm. We call on the NSW Parliament to commence a public inquiry into this Bill, so that we can continue on this shared path to a Human Rights Act for NSW.
If you live in NSW, you can support the campaign for a Human Rights Act for NSW by writing to your local MP.
Knowmore continues to advocate for the rights of children, victims and survivors to be better recognised and protected across Australia.