Human rights panel seeking advisors

The Queensland Parliament is seeking expressions of interest for membership of the human rights advisory panel from Queensland Law Society members.

Panel members provide expert advice in areas of human rights law to assist the portfolio committees in their consideration of:

• the compatibility of legislation (predominately Bills, but also subordinate legislation on occasion) with the human rights protected under the Human Rights Act 2019;
• whether limits on human rights in legislation are reasonable and justifiable;
• statements of compatibility accompanying Bills and human rights certificates accompanying subordinate legislation;
• Supreme Court declarations of incompatibility referred to a committee by the House;
• non-Queensland laws, referred by the House, to determine the compatibility of those laws with human rights set out in the Act.

Appointment will be under contract as required. It is anticipated the successful appointees will have demonstrated expertise in human rights law broadly or specialised knowledge.

Panel members will be required to provide written briefings (and on occasion verbal briefings) to committees and to be available, by negotiation, to brief committees. The initial appointment will be from February 2025 until the end of the 58th Parliament in October 2028.

Interested people are invited to forward a brief current resume outlining their qualifications and relevant expertise and experience to tss@parliament.gld.gov.au by Friday 10 January 2025.  

Applicants are also requested to nominate a rate per hour, exclusive of GST, for their written advice and verbal briefings.

Today, 10 December, is Human Rights Day which marks the anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.