The bill was set to lapse on 26 March
The NSW parliament will conduct a formal inquiry into the Human Rights Bill 2025 following the results of a vote earlier today 18 March, reported the Law Society Journal.
The bill was referred to the Legislative Assembly's committee on community services. The inquiry will initiate a public consultation phase before findings are presented to Parliament.
If the legislation is passed after the inquiry, it would set a legal framework through which citizens can challenge breaches or negligence of fundamental rights. Supporters of the bill indicated that it would enhance housing rights and security, child protection systems, LGBTQIA+ and cultural rights, and access to services within regional and rural areas, according to the Law Society Journal.
The bill was set to lapse on 26 March.
The inquiry announcement marks an “unambiguously positive step” towards the implementation of NSW’s inaugural Human Rights Act, Law Society of NSW president Ronan MacSweeney said in a media release.
“The human rights and public law experts on the Law Society’s policy and practice Committees look forward to contributing to this inquiry”, MacSweeney said.
MacSweeney called for those involved in the inquiry to seek feedback from a wide range of stakeholders and asked the NSW Parliament to approach the evidence objectively.
"Australia stands alone among common law countries as the only such nation not to have federally legislated or constitutional human rights provisions. However, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia all have enacted human rights legislation", MacSweeney said. "The enactment of well drafted human rights legislation in NSW would strengthen the rule of law in our state, improving outcomes for government decision-making and the people of NSW".
Parliament member for Newtown Jenny Leong introduced the bill in October 2025. Leong welcomed the vote’s outcome.
“At a time when fractures in our community run wide and deep… NSW Parliament is at a critical inflection point: we can choose to offer hope, or we can choose to fuel hate. A[n] NSW Human Rights Act would completely transform the public sector from one in which human rights are an afterthought to one that truly has the community’s best interests at heart”, Leong said in a statement published by the Law Society Journal.
The Law Society of NSW and the NSW Bar Association had put out a joint call for action yesterday 17 March. NSW Bar Association president Dominic Toomey SC had said that human rights protection “cannot be a legislative afterthought” – rather, it “should be a foundational component of NSW law”.
MacSweeney affirmed the Law Society’s willingness to help with human rights legislation.
“As we have stated before, the Law Society’s support for a standalone Human Rights Act is grounded in our commitment to the rule of law. Such legislation would provide a clear, principled framework for consistent decision-making. Appropriately framed legislation could strengthen the protection and promotion of human rights in NSW as well as helping to foster social cohesion and providing fairness and justice to the community”, MacSweeney said in the joint statement.
