AUSTRALIANS should be alert and alarmed by the lack of protection of their human rights, Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs has said.

Speaking to a sellout crowd at the 2016 Tony Fitzgerald Lecture in Brisbane last night, Professor Triggs said some sort of legislative bill of rights is “absolutely essential” for Australia.

“I know that there is no political appetite in Canberra, for legislating on a bill of rights, but I do think that we need to reignite the national discussion,” she said.

“I’d suggest that over the past 15 years in particular, we’ve faltered in our commitment to human rights and we have become isolated and exceptional in our approach to fundamental freedoms.”

Prof Triggs also said that a “gulf” has formed between Australian courts and international courts because Australia ratifies international conventions, but does not implement them.

“It’s one thing to negotiate a treaty in the international environment but quite another for that law to become valid and applicable by judges in a court,” she said.

During her speech Prof Triggs praised Queensland for “moving in the right direction”, after the Queensland Government’s Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee made recommendations that some form of process be adopted in parliament so that laws can better consider human rights protections.