Human Rights roadshow to push for landmark federal act

There won't be grades or scores, but instead dozens of fact sheets that spell out the everyday realities of Australians when it comes to racism, discrimination and more.

It will also include benchmarks against international commitments to eliminate discrimination, protect children and prevent torture.

Mr de Kretser said he hoped the review would bring a fresh light to work done behind the scenes.

"We do a lot of work reporting to UN bodies about Australia's compliance with the human rights standards that it's voluntarily agreed to uphold," he told AAP.

"We're trying to take a lot of that assessment and make it public-facing, so Australians have the information on which to judge the areas where we're doing well and areas where we need to do better."

Mr de Kretser said there had been a clear backsliding on racism - felt acutely by Indigenous Australians after the voice referendum - as well as protest rights.

Like many in civil society, Mr de Kretser and the commission believe the starting point should be with a human rights act.

Australia is regarded as the only developed democracy without a bill or charter of rights.

Instead, our hotchpotch legal framework makes it difficult for many to determine what they are entitled to.

Mr de Kretser was in Hobart on Tuesday to begin a nine-date national seminar tour aiming to spark community debate on rights.

He used two cases from the aged care system - a woman forced to shower without a curtain, and a man who had his mail opened for him - as recent examples where people needed to bring difficult legal claims to enforce "common-sense" rights.

In another example, a woman fought the government for the right to homeschool her child without giving her address, as she feared a violent former partner might find her.

Earlier in April, Attorney-General Michelle Rowland made amendments to federal secrecy laws that were applauded by Mr de Kretser and others. 

However, on the matter of a human rights act, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government appears uninterested.

A 2024 parliamentary inquiry which recommended such an act is gathering dust, and a huge sector-wide push has fallen on deaf ears. 

"There are over 100 organisations from various backgrounds - disability, mental health, First Nations, migrant, legal, culturally diverse bodies - all behind it," Mr de Kretser said.

"The reform is there on a silver platter for government."

The seminar series is being held to mark the 40-year anniversary of the organisation's founding by the Bob Hawke-led Labor government.

At that point, an attempt to legislate a human rights act floundered in the Senate.

The commission is also championing an anti-racism framework which Mr de Kretser reminded the government was ready to be picked up in the 2026 Menzies Oration.

"We stand ready to work with government to implement the recommendations," he said.