Human rights complaints
The Queensland Government always considers human rights before making decisions and providing services. Sometimes our actions protect or promote human rights and sometimes they limit human rights. If someone thinks their rights have been limited in a way that is not reasonable, they can make a complaint.
To make a human rights complaint, the first step is to make a complaint with the government agency who made the decision or provided the service. The complaint must include detailed information about the act or decision that has affected them and how they believe it has impacted their human rights.
Each agency has its own process in place to manage complaints. The Queensland Government website has information about how to contact agencies.
Once the complaint is lodged, the agency has 45 business days to respond. If the complainant believes the response is not adequate, they can contact the Queensland Human Rights Commission.
Watch the video to learn more about how to make a human rights complaint. This video can be shared with external clients and stakeholders.
Each Queensland Government agency’s complaints policy and procedure must be consistent with human rights law, and help address human rights complaints.
Read our guide to handling human rights complaints for help:
- embedding human rights considerations into existing complaints processes
- addressing human rights complaints.
Download A Guide to Handling Human Rights Complaints 907.9 KB)
If someone has made a human rights complaint to a government agency and are unsatisfied with the response, they can complain to the QHRC.
The QHRC's role includes:
- promoting understanding and acceptance of human rights in Queensland
- providing education about human rights
- reporting annually to Parliament about the Act
- dealing with human rights complaints.
The QHRC will decide whether to accept a complaint and how to resolve it. One option is conciliation, which is an accessible and independent dispute resolution process.