Learn about possible changes to 30-year-old legislation
The Queensland Human Right Commission (QHRC) has called for anti-discrimination reforms, noting the need for an act that “truly reflects and protects the contemporary society of Queensland,” the Queensland Law Society (QLS) said in a news release.
It further stated that the Commission’s report, “Building belonging: Review of Queensland’s Anti-Discrimination Act 1991,” included 46 recommendations to further strengthen and explain discrimination law and came after Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman assigned QHRC to review existing legislation.
Time for a reform
While the QHRC recognized the role of the 30-year-old-legislation in fighting against discrimination and its promotion of inclusion, QHRC Commissioner Scott McDougall said it is time to realize that Queensland also underwent several circumstances over the years.
“It is now 30 years old, and Queensland today is, in some ways, a vastly different state to Queensland 30 years ago,” McDougall said according to QLS.
“This review provided an excellent and timely opportunity to look at whether the Act continues, in the words of its preamble, to ‘reflect the aspirations and needs of contemporary society’ – including the need to belong,” he added.
Key recommendations of the Commission
According to McDougall, one main proposal introduced in QHRC’s report is implementing a definite obligation towards industries and businesses to take appropriate and reasonable action to prevent discrimination before it can actually happen.
Fentiman assured the public that the government acknowledged the report and has proposed reforms in several areas, including focusing on the “positive prevention” of discrimination and sexual harassment.
“Current anti-discrimination legislation is generally concerned with resolving complaints about discrimination that has already occurred, rather than preventing it from happening in the first place,” Fentiman said, based on the law society.
“Introducing a ‘positive duty’ upon employers to take reasonable measures to eliminate sexual harassment and discrimination was also a recommendation of the Respect@Work report,” she added.
Moreover, QLS said the report proposed that family and domestic violence victims should be offered increased protection from discrimination, especially when applying for a rental property or workplace.
The report also recommended increased protection for the LGBTQ+ community to avoid incidents such as in the case of Citipointe Christian College, which condemned homosexuality and restricted students to be enrolled only on the basis of their “biological sex.”
“The actions of Citipointe Christian College at the start of this year highlighted the importance of having specific protections for LGBTIQ+ students and staff at religious schools,” Fentiman said.
“This report recommends reforms that will mean LGBTIQ+ students and staff feel safe in religious schools, while still protecting religious freedoms,” she added.
According to QLS, the QHRC commissioner noted that the reforms detailed in the review aimed at:
- Introducing a new Act with goals that included protecting and promoting the right to equality and eliminating discrimination and sexual harassment
- Improvement of critical concepts to ensure legal tests for discrimination respond effectively to the problems they seek to address and are easy to understand and apply
- Shifting focus to preemptive measures towards discrimination and sexual harassment before they happen
- Upgrading the complaints system to ensure individuals could safely and easily air their grievances, and be given justice
- Enhancing protections to ensure individuals needing protection under the Act are included and that coverage of the law covers all contexts and settings where unfair discrimination occurs, subject to reasonable exceptions
Fentiman assured the credibility of the report and noted that QHRC discussed widely during the review, conducting more than 120 stakeholder consultations, four public hearings, and six roundtables.
