Anti-discrimination laws

Australia has obligations under a number of international human rights treaties to take measures to eliminate discrimination including on the basis of age, race, sex, pregnancy, marital status and disability.

The Commonwealth Government has implemented some of these obligations through legislation such as the:

  • Age Discrimination Act 2004
  • Disability Discrimination Act 1992
  • Racial Discrimination Act 1975
  • Sex Discrimination Act 1984
  • Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986

The Law Council monitors the implementation of Australia's human rights obligations through these Acts and responds to legislative reviews or related matters.

The current Commonwealth anti-discrimination regime provides an important legislative framework for promoting equality in Australia and contains many positive features that operate to protect against certain forms of discrimination in certain circumstances. Despite these features, many individuals and groups within the Australian community experience discrimination, and the notion of substantive equality remains, at least for some, still out of reach.

The current Commonwealth regime also deals with different grounds of discrimination in different ways. Four grounds of discrimination - sex, age, disability and race - are dealt with under the specific Acts listed above while other more limited protections are provided under the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (Cth). This results in a confused and fragmented scheme, which is difficult to use.

The Commonwealth Government has recognised the need to look carefully at anti-discrimination laws, and the consolidation and harmonization of Commonwealth anti-discrimination laws is one of the initiatives proposed in Australia's Human Rights Framework, released by the Commonwealth Government in response to the findings of the National Human Rights Consultation Committee following the nation-wide human rights consultation in 2009.

In September 2011, the Attorney-General's Department released a Discussion Paper on the Consolidation of Commonwealth Anti-Discrimination Laws. In February 2012, the Law Council provided a submission to the Attorney-General's Department on the Consolidation of Commonwealth Anti-Discrimination Laws.

The Law Council supports reforms to the current Commonwealth anti-discrimination regime that make it easier to access and understand, improve its capacity to address all forms of discrimination, promote equality, and implement Australia's international obligations in this area. For these reasons, the Law Council supports the consolidation of the existing Commonwealth discrimination laws in to a single Act, provided that this process preserves or enhances existing protections against discrimination and improves the ability of the regime to promote substantive equality, as well as removing the regulatory burden on business.

For the Law Council, the consolidation process is an opportunity to advocate for increased protections against discrimination on a wider range of grounds that that currently covered by the existing Commonwealth regime. It is also an opportunity to examine key definitions and tests applied under the current system, as well the adequacy of the existing complaints process and the range of remedies available where discrimination is found to exist. In each case, the Law Council supports changes that would enhance the existing legal framework, for example by ensuring that adequate and enforceable remedies exist for each ground of discrimination protected under the consolidated Act.

Following consultation with its Constituent Bodies and expert Sections and Committees, the Law Council has developed a General Policy Position on the Consolidation of Commonwealth Anti-Discrimination Laws which provides an insight into the type of issues the national legal profession consider to be important when undertaking this consolidation process.

This General Policy Position, which was approved by Law Council Directors in March 2011, will guide the Law Council's advocacy in this area. The Law Council also looks forward to commenting on the draft legislation once this has been released for public comment. Exposure draft legislation will be released by the Government in 2012.

Materials

Years: 2012 , 2011 , 2010 , 2009 , 2008 , 2006

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2006