Chapter 1 - Introduction


Chapter 1 - Introduction

Purpose of the Bill

1.1        On 30 September 2010, the Senate referred the provisions of the Sex and Age Discrimination Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 (Bill) to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee (committee) for inquiry and report by 10 February 2011. On 8 February 2011, the Senate agreed to extend the reporting date until 22 March 2011.

1.2        The Bill was introduced into the House of Representatives on 30 September 2010 by the Attorney-General, the Hon Robert McClelland MP. According to the Attorney-General, the main purpose of the Bill is to implement two of the Australian Government's election commitments, namely:

  • to strengthen protections against sex discrimination and sexual harassment for both women and men, by amending the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) (Sex Discrimination Act); and
  • to introduce a new dedicated position of Age Discrimination Commissioner in the Australian Human Rights Commission (Human Rights Commission) to ensure that all Australians are able to participate in Australian society, regardless of their age, by amending the Age Discrimination Act 2004 (Cth).[1]

1.3        The Attorney-General also noted that the amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act proposed by the Bill form part of the government's response to recommendations made by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee  in its 2008 report into the Effectiveness of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 in eliminating discrimination and promoting gender equality (Senate Report).[2]

1.4        In particular, the Bill seeks to:

  • provide equal protection to both women and men from sex discrimination;
  • establish breastfeeding as a separate ground of discrimination;
  • broaden the prohibition on discrimination on the ground of family responsibilities to provide equal protection to both women and men from discrimination, including indirect discrimination, in all areas of work;
  • strengthen protections against sexual harassment in schools and workplaces;
  • create a separate position of Age Discrimination Commissioner;
  • provide the mechanism of appointment, and terms and conditions of appointment, for the Age Discrimination Commissioner; and
  • make minor and consequential amendments to the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 (Cth), the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (Cth) (Human Rights Commission Act) and the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Fair Work Act).

Previous Senate Committee report and government response

1.5        On 26 June 2008, the Senate referred an inquiry into the effectiveness of the Sex Discrimination Act in eliminating discrimination and promoting gender equality to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee. The Senate tabled its report on 12 December 2008, and made 43 recommendations. These recommendations are listed at Appendix 1.

1.6        The Australian Government tabled its response to the recommendations of the Senate Report on 4 May 2010 (Government Response).[3] In that response, the Australian Government categorised the recommendations into two groups – those specific to sex discrimination, and those which are also relevant to other areas of anti‑discrimination legislation.[4]

1.7        The Government Response stated that, in relation to the recommendations 'specific to sex discrimination', it proposed 'to act immediately' by amending the Sex Discrimination Act to:

  • provide equal protection to both women and men from sex discrimination (Recommendation 7);
  • establish breastfeeding as a separate ground of discrimination (Recommendation 12);
  • broaden the prohibition on discrimination on the ground of family responsibilities, to provide equal protection to both women and men from discrimination, including indirect discrimination, in all areas of their work (Recommendation 13); and
  • strengthen protections against sexual harassment in schools and workplaces (Recommendation 17).[5]

1.8        The Government Response stated that other amendments proposed by the Senate Report with implications for other federal anti-discrimination law would be:

...considered by the Government in light of its...commitment to streamline and harmonise Commonwealth anti-discrimination legislation as part of the Government's response to the National Human Rights Consultation.[6]

1.9        On 24 June 2010, the Attorney-General introduced the Sex Discrimination Amendment Bill 2010 into the House of Representatives. That bill proposed amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act, consistent with the Government Response, but the bill lapsed when the 42nd Parliament was prorogued on 19 July 2010.

1.10      The current Bill contains largely the same measures as those that were in the Sex Discrimination Amendment Bill 2010, with the addition of measures which create the dedicated position of Age Discrimination Commissioner.

1.11      At the time of introduction of the current Bill, the Attorney-General reiterated that those recommendations of the Senate Report 'relevant to all federal anti‑discrimination laws' would be considered later as 'part of the work on Australia's Human Rights Framework to streamline federal anti‑discrimination legislation into a single, comprehensive Act'.[7]

Australian Human Rights Commission's responsibilities

1.12      The Human Rights Commission was established by the Australian Government in 1986 as an independent statutory organisation under the Human Rights Commission Act. The Human Rights Commission's main role is to 'protect and promote the human rights of all people in Australia', and it has statutory responsibilities under the Age Discrimination Act, the Sex Discrimination Act, the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) (Disability Discrimination Act), the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) (Racial Discrimination Act) and the Human Rights Commission Act.[8] The Human Rights Commission also has responsibilities under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) and the Fair Work Act.

1.13      Commissioners are appointed to the Human Rights Commission under provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act, the Racial Discrimination Act and the Sex Discrimination Act to assist in addressing discrimination. There is currently a Human Rights Commissioner,[9] a Disability Discrimination Commissioner, a Race Discrimination Commissioner,[10] an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and a Sex Discrimination Commissioner. However, functions in relation to age discrimination are currently performed by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, as the 'Commissioner responsible for Age Discrimination'.

Conduct of the inquiry

1.14      The committee advertised the inquiry in The Australian newspaper on 13 October 2010, and invited submissions by 27 October 2010. The committee also wrote to over 70 organisations and individuals inviting submissions. Details of the inquiry, the Bill and associated documents were placed on the committee's website.

1.15      The committee received 30 submissions, which were placed on the committee's website for ease of access by the public. Submissions are listed at Appendix 2. There were no public hearings for this inquiry.

Acknowledgement

1.16      The committee thanks those organisations and individuals who made submissions.

Note on references

1.17      Submission references in this report are to individual submissions as received by the committee, not to a bound volume.

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