In releasing the exposure draft, Attorney-General Nicola Roxon and Minister for Finance and Deregulation Penny Wong explained that Australias anti-discrimination laws currently span five different Acts, with different standards, definitions and rules making the system unnecessarily complex and difficult to navigate.
By consolidating Commonwealth anti-discrimination laws into one Act, the Government is providing better protections with a clearer and simpler regime for business, organisations and individuals.
Making protections and obligations clearer for individuals and organisations will help everyone understand what behaviour is expected and will provide certainty for all users of the system, Ms Roxon said.
There will be no reduction in existing protections and the highest current standards will be consistently applied and enforced across the full range of discriminatory practices.
Its ridiculous that at the moment an African woman for example, who has been discriminated against needs to separately make complaints of sex and race discrimination now she can make a single complaint recognising the discrimination was because she was both a woman and African.
It will be easier for individuals to seek redress when theyve been discriminated against but simpler provisions enabling a single justification defence for such behaviour and the ability of the Commission to dismiss unmeritorious complaints will give business and service providers certainty as well.
This project also fulfils our election commitment to introduce sexual orientation and gender identity as protected grounds of discrimination, heralding a significant and overdue reform in this area.
Minister Wong said the consolidated legislation will make it easier for individuals to seek redress when theyve been discriminated against, and will provide the Commission with the ability to dismiss unmeritorious complaints, providing business with certainty.
Consolidating anti-discrimination laws will make compliance easier, reduce costs and shift the focus from redressing wrongs to preventing discrimination from occurring in the first place this is particularly good news for small business, Senator Wong said.
Business will also benefit from the ability of the Australian Human Rights Commission to certify codes or standards that will act as a full defence to claims of discrimination.
The complaints process will be streamlined with the adoption of a cost free jurisdiction and shifting burden of proof where the respondent is required to justify the conduct once the complainant has established a prima facie case, Ms Roxon said.
Religious exemptions will continue as under the current scheme, except in relation to aged care whereby Commonwealth funded aged care providers will no longer be permitted to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. This change is consistent with the introduction of protection against sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination and in recognition that aged care services become a persons home.
The release of the exposure draft legislation of the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill follows a public consultation process that commenced in 2011 and will now be the subject of an inquiry conducted by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee allowing community feedback prior to legislation being introduced into the Parliament.
The exposure draft legislation can be found at www.ag.gov.au/antidiscrimination.
Key changes:
- Lift differing levels of protections to highest current standard to resolve gaps and inconsistencies.
- Single, simple definition of discrimination as unfavourable treatment and a simple defence of justification, meaning discrimination is lawful when done for legitimate aim and proportionate to aim.
- Replace many existing exceptions with single concept of justification, meaning discrimination is not unlawful when it is done for a legitimate aim and proportionate to that aim.
- New protected grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.
- Assisting business to better understand their obligations, reduce unnecessary complaint and compliance costs and shift the focus from redressing wrongs to preventing discrimination. This includes allowing certification of a code or standard by the AHRC that provides a defence to a claim of discrimination (if the code is complied with).
- Streamlining the complaints process and other functions of the Commission, such as shifting the burden of proof to the respondent to justify the conduct, once the complainant has established a prima facie case and making this a cost free jurisdiction.
