The Victorian Human Rights Commission describes the underlying principles of human rights protection as FRED: that is, the Freedom, Respect, Equality and Dignity of all human beings. These principals underpin the core rights protected by the Victorian Charter of Human Rights.

Most advocates for a Charter of Human Rights believe it should include these core rights, which also find expression in international human rights treaties.

The Victorian Charter and the ACT Human Rights Act protect civil and political rights, which are generally those set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Other rights, such as those contained in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, are not currently included in the Victorian and ACT legislation. Economic, social and cultural rights include the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to health and housing, and the right to just and favourable conditions of work.

Under s 44 of the Victorian Charter, the Victorian Attorney-General is required to initiate a review of the Charter’s first four years of operation. Part of this review includes considering whether additional rights, such as economic, social and cultural rights, should be protected in the Charter. The Victorian Attorney-General must cause a report of this review to be laid before each House of the Victorian Parliament on or before 1 October 2011.

For a discussion about whether economic, social and cultural rights should be included in a Charter of Human Rights, see James Abbott, ‘Should we protect economic, social and cultural rights?’, Human Rights Act for Australia, 1 February 2006.

Some human rights issues, such as abortion, are extremely controversial and polarising. It may be impossible to reach community consensus on a Charter of Human Rights if the discussion stalls on abortion. Many people in the community have strong views on this issue and do not want judges to be determining the appropriate balance to be struck between competing rights in these kinds of cases.

If that is the case, it does not mean we should abandon having a Charter of Human Rights altogether. Community consensus can likely be reached on almost every other right to be included in a Charter of Human Rights.

The approach taken in Victoria to address this problem was very simple: expressly exclude abortion and child-destruction laws from the operation of the Charter: s 48. A Charter of Human Rights is intended to protect generally-accepted core rights, not to provide a vehicle to alter existing laws on abortion by stealth. Controversial sticking-points need not stall the movement for a national Charter.