Page 4598 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 15 December 1993
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DISCRIMINATION (AMENDMENT) BILL (NO. 4) 1993
MR MOORE (10.32): I present the Discrimination (Amendment) Bill (No. 4) 1993.
Title read by Clerk.
MR MOORE: I move:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
There are many reasons why the Discrimination Act needs to be amended to include the words "profession, trade, occupation or calling". It is interesting that recently there have been a number of amendments to the Discrimination Act. The amendments have to do with adding new categories to the obvious ones such as race, sex and so forth. That illustrates more than anything the success of the Act in that members, realising how successful that Act has been in its process, have been prepared to add other areas where we believe some discrimination is occurring. That process, instead of being resolved by somebody having to go to court and say, "I have been discriminated against", actually provides for somebody to go to the commissioner and the commissioner then attempting to resolve the situation by bringing the parties together. My understanding is that in 95 per cent of cases that is successful. There is the possibility for the complaint to go further, should that be necessary.
We saw an example earlier this year of someone whose previous employment in a trade union was an impediment to subsequent employment. There are examples of politicians who have found it impossible to move back into various jobs after they have served a term in a political party. Mr Wood has had one such experience under the Bjelke-Petersen regime in Queensland. Members would probably be aware that, having been a serving Labor politician in Queensland, he was denied employment as a teacher simply on the grounds that he was a member of the wrong party as far as Mr Bjelke-Petersen was concerned. That was an entirely inappropriate and appalling situation. No doubt many people in Queensland have fitted into that category. Health workers who have spent time working closely with HIV-AIDS patients have been discriminated against for reasons of ignorance and prejudice. The AIDS Council of Australia has many accounts of doctors, other health professionals, and even volunteers working in this area, being discriminated against when it came to future employment. Ignorance being the basis of prejudice, many of these people were treated as lepers simply on the grounds that they had been in contact with HIV-positive patients.
These are the normal situations that are attached to prejudice, that are attached to discrimination, which is why this Assembly passed the Discrimination Act in 1991. I suppose we can all think of instances of discrimination against people who have worked as undertakers or garbage collectors. The examples are many. Somebody mentioned parking inspectors to me today. Journalists who have achieved a high profile as a result of exposing certain business or political practices may be discriminated against in future employment outside the media because of their views. One could well imagine what Matthew Abraham's chances of getting a job pumping petrol at a Caltex service station would be.
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