Rights and access to justice

What this dot point is asking

This dot point asks you to explain how rights are protected in Australia and to evaluate how easily people can use the legal system.

How rights are protected in Australia

Unlike the United States, Australia does not have a single entrenched national bill of rights. Instead, rights are protected in several ways:

• The Constitution contains a small number of express rights, such as the right to trial by jury for indictable Commonwealth offences (section 80) and freedom of religion (section 116). The High Court has also recognised an implied freedom of political communication.
• Statute law protects many rights. The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth), the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) and the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) prohibit discrimination. In Tasmania, the Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 (Tas) provides state-level protection.
• Common law protects rights such as the presumption of innocence, the right to silence and natural justice (a fair hearing before an unbiased decision-maker).
• Australia is also a party to international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, although treaties do not become enforceable domestic law until incorporated by parliament.

Some Australian jurisdictions, such as Victoria, the ACT and Queensland, have enacted human rights charters, but Tasmania and the Commonwealth have not.

Access to justice

Access to justice means more than having rights on paper. It means people can understand their rights, get advice, afford to pursue a claim and have their matter heard fairly and within a reasonable time. The main elements often discussed are the three "E"s: engagement (people knowing and using the system), equality (fair treatment regardless of background) and efficiency (timely, affordable outcomes).

Barriers to access

• Cost: legal representation and court fees can be expensive, deterring people from enforcing their rights.
• Delay: long waiting times can pressure people into giving up or settling.
• Knowledge: people may not know their rights or how to start a claim.
• Distance: in regional and remote parts of Tasmania, courts and legal services can be far away.
• Disadvantage: language barriers, disability and the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the criminal justice system create additional obstacles.

Measures that improve access

• Legal Aid Commission of Tasmania provides advice and representation to eligible people.
• Community legal centres offer free assistance, often to disadvantaged groups.
• Alternative dispute resolution (mediation, conciliation and arbitration) can resolve disputes more cheaply and quickly than a trial.
• Tribunals such as the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (TASCAT) handle many disputes with less formality and lower cost than courts.
• Plain-language information, duty lawyers and pro bono work also widen access.

Why this matters for the legal system

Rights and access to justice are the practical test of whether the rule of law is real. A system can declare impressive rights on paper, but if ordinary people cannot afford a lawyer, do not know the law, or live far from a court, those rights are hollow. This is why TASC examiners want you to evaluate, not just list: the strength of Australia's approach is its multiple sources of protection and its support services, while its weaknesses are the absence of an entrenched bill of rights and the persistent barriers of cost, delay and disadvantage. For Tasmania specifically, distance and the concentration of services in larger centres make access a live issue for people in rural and remote areas, which is a strong point to bring into an answer.

When you evaluate, weigh the strengths (multiple sources of protection, legal aid, tribunals, ADR) against the weaknesses (no entrenched bill of rights, cost, delay, disadvantage) and reach a reasoned judgment.