Australian Administrative Law: The Human Rights Dimension

Abstract:     
Without a bill of rights to bring Australian human rights and administrative law together, the Australian relationship between the two is a contradictory story of convergence and divergence. This paper first traces and compares the values underlying both areas of law, before exploring a number of specific issues spanning both areas such as the concept of proportionality, the public/private distinction, and the 'right' to administrative justice. The paper then examines how interpretive principles are employed by the courts to safeguard rights, at least where they are not expressly limited by statute. The final part of this paper focuses on two institutional mechanisms which assist in protecting human rights: the Commonwealth Ombudsman, and scrutiny of bills by parliamentary committees. The aim of this chapter is not to comprehensively examine every human rights issue arising in Australian administrative law, but to outline some of the key trends and patterns.

Keywords: administrative law, human rights, bill of rights, statutory interpretation, legitimate expectation, ombudsman

JEL Classifications: K10, K30

Accepted Paper Series