Page 1471 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 1 June 2022
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We heard that people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the LGBTIQA+ community and people with disability are particularly affected by discrimination and that the protections afforded by the Discrimination Act are as important as ever.
A consultation draft Discrimination Amendment Bill has been prepared that takes into account all the ideas and perspectives we received during the consultation. It is now available to read on the ACT legislation register and the YourSay website, and I welcome the community’s feedback on it.
The consultation draft bill proposes to make the protections in the Discrimination Act broader, easier to understand and more compatible with our Human Rights Act 2004. It does this, Madam Speaker, in three main ways.
Firstly, the consultation draft bill expands the scope of the act to include functions of a public nature and clarifies that certain areas of public life, like competitions and sports, are covered by discrimination law. At the moment, it is not entirely clear whether someone could make a complaint about either area of public life and the proposed amendments seek to bring certainty about what is and what is not covered.
For example, a woman with Chinese heritage may enter a competition singing a well-known song in Mandarin and be told that she did not win because she performed a song in a language other than English. The amendments will now make it clear that she can make a racial discrimination complaint because competitions will be captured under the Discrimination Act.
These amendments will also make it clear that discrimination law covers people providing and receiving goods, services and facilities. The draft bill also better aligns the Discrimination Act with the obligations on public authorities under the Human Rights Act.
This consultation bill refines the exceptions across six categories. These relate to religious bodies, voluntary bodies and licensed clubs, sport, work, domestic duties, and insurance and superannuation.
In discrimination law, exceptions represent situations where there is a good reason for otherwise discriminatory conduct to be lawful. For example, this could be because discrimination is necessary to protect another human right.
However, the Discrimination Act currently has over 50 exceptions and many of them have not been reviewed since the Discrimination Act commenced in 1991. To make the Discrimination Act more user friendly, consistent and human rights compatible, the consultation draft bill proposes to streamline exceptions and to build in human rights considerations when applying them. Many exceptions will now require the consideration of whether the discrimination is reasonable, proportionate and justifiable in the circumstances.
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