Voluntarily ‘opting-in’ – the Australian approach to seeking human rights compliance from non-government entities

ABSTRACT This article examines the methods employed in the human rights acts that have been legislated at the Australian State/Territory level to encourage compliance with human rights amongst non-government entities. The article considers the provisions in the Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT) and the Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld) that enable non-government organisations to voluntarily ‘opt-in’ to the statutory obligations of a public authority to act in compliance with human rights. The intention behind these provisions was to encourage the voluntary assumption by private sector entities of the human rights standards expected of public authorities. This article examines how the ACT provision has had limited take-up and has not been successful in encouraging ‘opt-in’ by private sector organisations. The organisations that have opted-in are predominantly non-government, service oriented or advocacy organisations that already had a strong commitment to human rights. While this may indicate that the opt-in provision has not been successful in fulfiling its goal, it has achieved some modest outcomes in terms of setting an example for human rights compliance for non-government organisations. There are also some important lessons that should be heeded in terms of promotion and maintaining government commitment to develop a human rights culture.