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March 2026

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[Greens-Media] MEDIA RELEASE: NSW Parliament to hold inquiry into Greens Human Rights Bill
by ElectorateOffice Newtown March 18, 2026

March 18, 2026

NSW Parliament to hold inquiry into Greens Human Rights Bill MEDIA RELEASE 18 March 2026 The Greens welcome the unanimous support from the NSW Parliament to establish an Inquiry into the Greens Bill for a NSW Human Rights Act. The Human Rights Bill 2025 was introduced by the Member for Newtown, Jenny Leong MP, in October 2025. Today's action follows a decades-long campaign for a NSW Human Rights Act by a broad alliance of community, legal, and civil society organisations, many of whom make up the 120+ members of the Human Rights Act for NSW Alliance. It also comes after eight members of the Legislative Assembly crossbench, including all three Greens lower house MPs and five independents, wrote to the Premier Chris Minns yesterday urging him to back an inquiry into the Greens Human Rights Bill. NSW Greens spokesperson for Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination and Member for Newtown, Jenny Leong MP said: "We enthusiastically welcome the support of the NSW Parliament to refer our Greens bill for a NSW Human Rights Act to an inquiry for public consultation and report. "In every Australian jurisdiction with a human rights act or charter, a robust public inquiry paved the way for this critical reform - and we look forward to NSW becoming the most recent state to take this path. "At a time when fractures in our community run wide and deep, and so many are feeling the pressures of everyday life, NSW Parliament is at a critical inflection point: we can choose to offer hope, or we can choose to fuel hate. "A NSW human rights act would give people from across the community a valuable tool to use to ensure their basic human rights and dignity are respected - and to take action when they are not. It would completely transform the public sector from one in which human rights are an afterthought to one that truly has the community's best interests at heart." "The Greens will always choose hope over hate, and we are glad that the NSW Parliament has backed us - and all those who support human rights - by its actions today." Background More than 120 community, legal and peak bodies in NSW support the call to establish an inquiry into Human Rights Act in NSW, including the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, Human Rights Law Centre, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, the NSW Teachers Federation, BEING Mental Health Consumers, People with Disability Australia, Community Legal Centres NSW, the Australia Services Union, the NSW Bar Association, and Amnesty International. A full list of members of the Human Rights for NSW Alliance can be found here<https://humanrightsfornsw.org/partners>. Yesterday, eight Members of the Legislative Assembly crossbench - three Greens and the independent Members for Pittwater, Wakehurst, Sydney, Lake Macquarie, and Wagga Wagga - wrote to the Premier expressing their support for the establishment of a Legislative Assembly committee to inquire into the Greens Human Rights Bill. A NSW Human Rights Act would have positive impacts for all community members, but would have particular benefits in relation to housing rights, child protection, people with disability, cultural rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, and people living in regional, rural and isolated areas. For case studies that demonstrate how a Human Rights Act has made a real difference to the lives of people in other states and territories, please see here<https://alhr.org.au/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/HRA4NSW-Case-Studies-Marc…>. Media contact: 0451 752 385 * ENDS -

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[Greens-Media] MEDIA ALERT - Press conference 11:15am Tuesday 17 March - MPs and civil society organisations support inquiry into NSW Greens Human Rights Bill
by Jenny Leong March 16, 2026

March 16, 2026

MEDIA ALERT 16 March 2026 Press Conference MPs and over 20 representatives of civil society organisations support inquiry into Human Rights Act Eight Legislative Assembly crossbenchers, 3 Greens and 5 Independents, have written to Premier Chris Minns urging him to support an inquiry into the NSW Greens Human Rights Bill 2025. They join more than 120 member organisations of the Human Rights Act for NSW Alliance - over 20 of whom will have representatives in attendance, who worked closely with Jenny Leong MP, the Member for Newtown, to draft the bill that was introduced to Parliament in October 2025. When: 11:15am, Tuesday 17 March Where: Tree of Knowledge (Behind NSW Parliament, near Hospital Road exit) What: Journalists/ TVs / cameras are invited to hear from NSW Parliamentarians and members of the Human Rights for NSW Alliance who are calling for an inquiry into the Human Rights Bill 2025. Who: Members of Parliament Jenny Leong MP, Member for Newtown Jacqui Scruby MP, Member for Pittwater Stephen Lawrence MLC, Labor Upper House Member Over 20 representatives from Human Rights Act for NSW Alliance member organisations, including: Sarah Marland, Community Legal Centres NSW Julian Laurens, People with Disability Australia As well as other representatives from: * Australian Lawyers for Human Rights * Human Rights Law Centre * BEING - Mental Health Consumers * Justice and Equity Centre * ANTAR * Knowmore Legal Service * NSW Teachers Federation * JustReinvest * Inner City Legal Centre * AbSec * Refugee Council of Australia * Amnesty International * Carers NSW * Trans Justice Sydney * Community Restorative Centre * Tenants' Union of NSW * Human Rights For All * Mums 4 Refugees * NSW Council for Civil Liberties * Parents for Trans Youth Equity * Refugee Council of Australia PLEASE GET IN TOUCH TO ARRANGE PHOTO OPP ON FRONT STEPS OF PARLIAMENT FOLLOWING THE PRESS CONFERENCE IF INTERESTED. Media contact: Patricia Arcilla - 0451 752 385

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