Spokesman for the national body Ben Schokman said yesterday that the move failed to understand the substantial economic and social benefits of human rights protections.

``A charter of human rights is a cost-effective way to promote human rights,'' Mr Schokman said.

``Human rights are not optional extras - experience in other jurisdictions such as Victoria and the ACT demonstrates that human rights protection in fact provides substantial economic and social benefits with minimal implementation costs.''

State Attorney-General Brian Wightman said last week that work had stalled on a charter of human rights and an associated commission as Tasmania could not afford them.