Can more rights make less wrongs? Can we help future-proof justice with an Australian Human Rights Act?

Panel through time with eight leading Australians as they debate future human rights dilemmas and tussle over how a Human Rights Act would protect people and communities in a hypothetical – but entirely possible – 2034.

Join timekeeper and sleek geek Adam Spencer as he corrals a compelling lineup of legal eagles, rights advocates, media personalities and comedy stars who’ll challenge and cajole each other – as well as the audience – to either save the future or let rights go wrong.

You'll hear the arguments, jibes and jests live on stage before you cast your virtual vote on a Human Rights Act for Australia.  Whatever the outcome, you’ll have the time of your rights!

Host

Adam Spencer | Comedian, writer, broadcaster and media personality 

Panellists

  • Waleed Aly | award winning broadcaster, author, academic and musician and host of The Project on Network Ten
  • Jennifer Robinson | International human rights lawyer (representing Julian Assange) and Human Rights Act advocate
  • The Hon Michael Kirby | International jurist, human rights advocate and former Australian High Court judge
  • Sisonke Msimang | Writer, activist and political analyst
  • Tanya Hosch | Business executive, First Nations social activist and AFL Executive General Manager Inclusion & Social Policy
  • Em. Prof. Rosalind Croucher | Australian Human Rights Commission President and emeritus law professor
  • Nazeem Hussain | Comedian, actor and presenter (beaming in from the future)


Australia. 2034. 

A hardline populist government is reacting to local and global issues with increasingly extreme policies and politics. With Centrelink debt gulags, residential nuclear waste dumps, Pacific climate refugee crackdowns and AI magistrates in the mix, the future looks bleak. So concerned citizens in 2034 are using a mysterious time tunnel to send back information in an effort to change the past so their rights are better protected in the future. They want Australians in 2024 to get behind efforts to introduce a Human Rights Act and help deliver them the freedom, equity and justice which they feel they are being denied. 

Is an Australian Human Rights Act a real possibility?

The Federal Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights has recently concluded a 12-month inquiry into reforming Australia’s human rights framework, including the possible introduction of an Australian Human Rights Act. The Committee’s report is scheduled to be released at the end May, a week before the Rights On Time panel show. The report will inform how the Federal Government will proceed in relation to any relevant reform agenda.

Find out more about the conference and the proposal for an Australian Human Rights Act.