A right to a healthy environment should be retained, and redrafted to be a positive right.
The NSW Parliament’s Legislative Assembly Committee on Community Services is inquiring into and reporting on the Human Rights Bill 2025, which proposes to establish a statutory human rights framework for NSW and impose measures to support the protection of these rights. The Bill was introduced in late 2025.
ALCA’s submission relates to Section 44 of the Bill, and recommends that a right to a healthy environment be retained, but that the right is redrafted to be a positive right (a ‘right to’), rather than a negative right (a ‘right not to be subject to’). This would align the approach to the right with both ACT and international law. ALCA also provide a recommended amended provision for the right to a healthy environment at the end of our submission.
