Cassandra Fernando (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak in support of the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Bill 2022. Every worker should be free of discrimination of all types, and implementing the recommendations of the Respect@Work report honours that promise we made to the Australian people during the election. The bill will significantly strengthen and clarify the legal and regulatory framework relating to sexual harassment in Australia. It also introduces a positive duty for employers and persons conducting a business or undertaking to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sexual harassment as far as possible.

The Australian Human Rights Commission released the Respect@Work report on 5 March 2020. Based on the findings of the national inquiry into sexual harassment in Australian workplaces, this was a pivotal moment in shining a light on the extent of the sexual harassment in our workplaces. The national inquiry found 33 per cent of people who had been in the workforce for the last five years had experienced workplace sexual harassment. As a former union organiser, I am very aware of the impacts this type harassment can have on a worker, particularly when they have little to no support from management or HR. These experiences can leave a workers scarred, in more ways than one, for many years if they do not receive support or their employer has inadequate policies in place. I am pleased that important pillars of the union movement, namely the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association and the Community and Public Sector Union, were engaged in the consultation process for this bill.

A key reform contained in this bill concerns the implementation of recommendation 17 from the Respect@Work report. The result will be placing the onus on employers to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate unlawful discrimination, including sexual harassment, to the furthest extent possible. Employers will be required to work alongside their staff in ensuring, to the best of their ability, that their workplaces are safe from discrimination. To ensure workers and employers are supported in this task, the Australian Human Rights Commission will prepare and publish guidelines for compliance with the positive duty. It will also be equipped with appropriate compliance powers to enforce this positive duty. This will transfer the responsibility from victims of discrimination and harassment to those who are equipped to prevent it: employers.

Another way in this bill will support workers is by amending the objects clause of the Sex Discrimination Act. The amendment clause will state that the object of this act is to achieve substantive equality between men and women. It will state that an objective of this act is to eliminate, so far as possible, discrimination involving workplace environments that are hostile on the grounds of sex. To further support victims of discrimination, there will be a change in the timeframe for when a complaint under antidiscrimination law may be lodged. The change from six months to twenty-four months will provide victims with sufficient time to consider the best course of action and level the playing field to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to seek justice.

The president of the commission will also retain discretionary power not to be required to terminate a complaint for any matter that occurred more than 24 months before the complaint was lodged. That discretionary power is an important last line of support for victims. Given my previous role as a union official, I know how hard it is for people to make formal complaints on sensitive matters such as these, particularly in a timely manner. For many, it can take multiple years of support before they feel comfortable to confront the dark memories that are brought to the surface when raising these matters in a legal format.

Furthermore, through this bill, the government will insert a costs protection provision into the Australian Human Rights Commission Act, which will provide greater certainty to potential applicants as to the cost of the legal action. This action is a direct response to the Respect@Work report's finding that concerns about adverse costs orders deter applicants from seeking to resolve complaints through the courts. Importantly, the costs reform model is supported by the Australian Human Rights Commission in its 2021 Free and Equal position paper. These reforms will apply to applications under the Commonwealth antidiscrimination law. This balanced approach helps to equalise the scales for those seeking to make a complaint by removing as many barriers as possible so that complaints can be heard without fear of financial ruin if unsuccessful.

The passage of this bill would see the Respect@Work report's recommendations fully implemented in the way they were originally intended—something the previous government refused to do. The suite of reforms contained within this bill is crucial for ensuring safer and respectful workplaces for all Australians. The bill's provisions serve to streamline and clarify antidiscrimination laws in our country whilst increasing our support for workers and equipping employers with the tools they need to ensure their workplaces are as safe as possible. My many years on the shop floor spent representing and supporting my former members on these very issues have given me the insight to know that the reforms contained in this bill are not only necessary for, but essential to, proactively stopping the scourge of sexual harassment and discrimination before it rears its ugly head.

I commend this bill to the House.

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