The Federal Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights is conducting an Inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights Framework, including whether a federal Human Rights Act should be enacted. The Australian Human Rights Commission advocates enacting such an Act and recommends it include the following interpretative provision:

‘If a statutory provision cannot be interpreted in a way that is compatible with human rights, the provision must, to the extent possible that is consistent with its purpose, be interpreted in a way that is most compatible with human rights.’

Courts applying that provision would be required to use proportionality analysis as part of the interpretative process....