Since the introduction of the ACT Human Rights Act, there has been some discussion of the need for a Bill of Responsibilities as a balancing measure.

Bill Stefaniak MLA introduced the Charter of Responsibilities Bill 2004 into the Canberra Parliament on 23 June 2004. It was debated and rejected by the ACT Legislative Assembly on 18 August 2004 by a vote of 9 to 5. The explanatory statement for the Bill is also available.

The Bill proposed by Mr Stefaniak drew on the draft Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities drafted by the InterAction Council and launched on 1 September 1997. The draft declaration was intended for submission to the United Nations. Discussion about dissemination of the draft occurred in 1998. Background to the declaration can be found in the conclusions of an expert group chaired by Helmut Schmidt entitled ‘In Search of a Global Ethical Standard’.

The concept of a Bill of Responsibilities has received some support from the Prime Minister in a recent radio interview.

It is also currently being examined by the United Nations Commission of Human Rights. Special Rapporteur Miguel Martínez has delivered an interim and final report on the role of human responsibilities in the protection of human rights. The final report contained a ‘pre-draft’ Declaration of Human Social Responsibilities – a statement of non-binding principles intended to mirror the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. A motion for further consideration of the report was very narrowly defeated in 2003, but the issue was re-opened in the 2004 meeting of the Commission, with a decision to allow the Commission to circulate the pre-draft declaration to the 53 member states of the Commission. The Commission is due to report on State responses to the pre-draft at the 2005 meeting.

For further information on Bills of Responsibilities see:

Canberra Liberals media release (23 June 2003) Ben Saul, 'In the Shadow of Human Rights: Human Duties, Obligations and Responsibilities' (2001) George Williams and Lara Kostakidis-Lianos, ‘The other side of the rights debate’, Canberra Times (20 August 2004)

Further web writings:

Oscar Aries, ‘Some Contributions to a Universal Declaration of Human Obligations’ (1997)

Amitai Etzioni, "How About a Bill of Responsibilities?" Chicago Tribune, (July 4, 1993)

Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission, ‘What Are Human Rights?’ Section 3.3: Rights and Responsibilities

Lara Kostakadis-Lianos and George Williams ‘ Bills of Responsibilities: Is one needed to curb the excesses of the ACT Human Rights Act 2004?”