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Significant changes needed to Queensland’s Anti-Discrimination Act
The Queensland Human Rights Commission (QHRC) has issued a report with 46 recommendations to improve and update the state’s Anti-Discrimination Act, which has been met with approval by Australian Lawyers for Human Rights.
Keonia Swift
The Building Belonging: Review of Queensland’s Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 Report proposes a number of substantial reforms to expand and improve the state’s anti-discrimination protections, which currently cover protected attributes such as sex characteristics, irrelevant criminal records, physical features, vulnerability to domestic or family violence, and homelessness.
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“The act has played a pivotal role in preventing discrimination and promoting inclusion since its introduction in 1991,” said QHRC commissioner Scott McDougall.
“But it is now 30 years old, and Queensland today is, in some ways, a vastly different state to Queensland 30 years ago.”
It is the hope of the Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) that the Palaszczuk government will accept all 46 recommendations and act rapidly to put them into effect.
ALHR president Kerry Weste said: “The report sets out a clear pathway toward ensuring Queensland’s anti-discrimination laws are fit for purpose and reflect the values of a contemporary society where everyone’s internationally recognised human right to live free from discrimination is legally protected.
“A key theme within the report is the compelling need to shift to a preventative focus to eliminate systemic discrimination.
“The report recommends creating a positive duty on organisations to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate discrimination.”
Ms Weste continued: “This is an important, proactive, measure that would lessen the burden on individuals. Instead of relying on victims to make complaints about discrimination, it would support cultural change within organisations, preventing discrimination before it takes place.”
According to Georgia Burke, ALHR’s LGBTI co-chair, adoption of the review’s recommendations will significantly assist Queensland in meeting Australia’s international legal commitments to defend the human rights of LGBTI people.
“The report also recommends important changes to the definitions of ‘gender identity’ and ‘sexual orientation’ that would make anti-discrimination protections more inclusive and accurate, and create a new protected attribute of ‘sex characteristics’.
“This would introduce much needed safeguards for people with variations in sex characteristics. These measures will fill significant gaps in the scope of protection available to the people of Queensland,” said Ms Burke.
ALHR vice-president and co-chair of LGBTI rights Nicholas Stewart echoed a similar sentiment.
“This landmark report recommends much needed and extensive changes to Queensland’s anti-discrimination laws which would extend protections to more people and introduce a positive duty to prevent discrimination,” he said.
“If implemented, these measures will contribute to a changing culture of respect for the wellbeing of all people in Queensland.
“ALHR urges the Queensland government to accept all of the QHRC’s recommendations and calls for bipartisan support of legislative measures to implement them.”
