Kylea Tink (North Sydney, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The reforms in the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Bill are warmly welcomed and long overdue. As members of the 47th Parliament, however, we must recognise this reform is actually a small first step in what needs to be a much larger and broader reform of the human rights legislative framework in Australia.

The Respect@Work report completed by the Australian Human Rights Commission in March 2020 indisputably found the current legal and regulatory system in Australia is inadequate to deal with the prevalence and pervasiveness of workplace sexual harassment. At the outset, I want to sincerely thank all the victims, survivors and everyone who bravely shared their stories to inform this important work.

With one-third of workers reportedly experiencing sexual harassment, the Respect@Work review was a long and thorough process, finally bringing to light what many women have known to be true for decades: we need to do better in workplaces right around the country. To do this, we must shift the emphasis of the burden of responsibility from the potentially vulnerable individual to the employer who ultimately controls the culture in their workplace.

The report noted that the financial, social, emotional, physical and psychological harm associated with sexual harassment is particularly borne by women, with gender inequality a key driver of behaviour. It also found sexual harassment represents a very real financial imposition to the economy through lost productivity, staff turnover and other associated impacts. It is estimated the total financial cost of workplace sexual harassment to the Australian economy was $3.8 billion annually—noting this was likely a conservative estimate—and that most of the costs associated with that lost productivity, approximately $1.8 billion worth of it, were borne by Australian businesses.

The bill before us is a good faith implementation of what is recommended in the Respect@Work report as it seeks to prohibit conduct which subjects a person to a hostile work environment on the grounds of their sex, and places a positive duty on employers to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate unlawful discrimination based on sex. In what I think is a strong and positive development, the Human Rights Commission will also be empowered to conduct inquiries into systemic and unlawful discrimination and support businesses to make work environments in Australia a safer place.

As is the case in so many overdue reforms, however, it is only when we shine a light on a problem and start to work towards solutions that we end up uncovering other areas of concern that are equally important to address. Human rights in Australia, more broadly, is one such area. This bill provides vital reform to eliminate sexual harassment and gender based inequalities. At the same time, it highlights the patchwork of discrimination in human rights laws in play right across the country.

This piecemeal approach leads all of us as rights holders, and, in some instances, victims and survivors, on uncertain ground, feeding complexity and confusion for businesses and authorities. This is particularly true when you take into account the intersectional nature of discrimination. As the Australian Human Rights Commission's 2018 national survey report revealed, almost 40 per cent of women and just over 25 per cent of men have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace in the past five years. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are more likely to have experienced workplace sexual harassment than people who are non-Indigenous. This distorted experience is also the case for people with a disability or those from a racially diverse background.

Given this, while this legislation addresses the challenge from the filter of sex it does not, nor does it seek to, address discrimination across all protected characteristics. As Human Rights Commissioner Jenkins identified:

The introduction of these reforms in the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 specifically focused on sex discrimination and sexual harassment provides an invaluable pilot for broader reforms that are needed across all areas of federal discrimination law.

In this context, I am very supportive of these reforms leading the way. For it to be its strongest, we must ensure we do not inadvertently weaken this legislation by pushing for amendments that, rather than strengthen it, spread it so thinly that its potency is lost.

The Human Rights Commission has developed a comprehensive reform agenda for our federal discrimination laws called 'Free and equal'. The paper supporting this agenda identifies a pressing need to shift the focus of the federal discrimination law system to a more preventative approach and towards actions that better support the fulfilment of rights. It is an important piece of work, the recommendations of which need to be actioned as a matter of urgency. I'm therefore calling on the Attorney-General to provide clarity as to what work the Labor government is doing more broadly in the area of human rights policy. The Labor Party has long promised a human rights framework that is fit for purpose, accessible and promotes equality, and the parliament deserves to know a time frame for this work.

I am pleased the objectives of this bill will be supported by some additional funding to the Human Rights Commission; however, having reviewed this funding allocation and looking at the broad scope of work the Australian Human Rights Commission must do, I do not believe the amount is adequate. Like many independent statutory authorities over the last decade, under previous governments, the Human Rights Commission has been hollowed out in what can only be seen as an attempt to lessen its impact or punish it for adverse reports.

As noted by the Kingsford Legal Centre at the University of New South Wales, compliance notices will be the main way positive duties are enforced and will be the driving force behind cultural and legal change. But the commission's ability to issue compliance orders and process complaints may be delayed without increased funding. I also support funding being made available for community legal services, to ensure free and independent legal advice is available to applicants. On behalf of the people of North Sydney, then, I'll be watching closely to ensure additional functions and areas of responsibility are properly funded.

There are some amendments, which have been circulated, to the bill that I will now touch on briefly. The amendments presented by the member for Wentworth relate to the inclusion of protections for people who identify as LGBTQI+. The bill in its current form prohibits conduct that subjects another person to a workplace environment that is hostile on the grounds of sex. However, this does not cover all attributes protected by the Sex Discrimination Act, such as discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and/or intersex status. The amendment proposed by the member for Wentworth seeks to expand the hostile work environment provisions and the positive duty provisions to cover hostility on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, marital or relationship status, pregnancy, breastfeeding and/or family responsibilities. I support this amendment and thank the member for Wentworth for moving it.

The amendment moved by the member for Kooyong relates to the cost provisions. Recommendation 25 of the Respect@Work report provides that the Australian Human Right Commission Act be amended to insert a cost protection provision consistent with section 570 of the Fair Work Act 2009. This cost model is as outlined in the Australian Human Rights Commission's 2021 Free & Equal position paper. The benefit of this model for access to justice is that it will apply to all Commonwealth antidiscrimination law, providing a clear and certain approach in which parties are responsible for their own costs. With that said, a judge will continue to have the power to intervene and make a different costs award.

I look forward to assessing the pros and cons of other cost models in the context of a broader strengthening and harmonisation of our discrimination laws. I would support a wider consultation with a longer time frame on a cost model which might allow applicants to claim costs against respondents in a wider range of circumstances or other models.

The amendments moved by the member for Berowra relate to the role of the Fair Work Ombudsman and, while I can recognise the position that the member is advocating for, having sought broader opinion, I am comfortable, and I agree with the Australian Human Rights Commission, that they are the most appropriate statutory body to deliver a trauma-informed inquiry function.

Finally, the amendments moved by the member for Warringah clarify the objects of the act and posit that it would be stronger if language referring to men and women were replaced with gender-neutral language. I support this amendment.

Australia was once at the forefront of tackling sexual harassment globally. More than 35 years on, the rate of change has been disappointingly slow. Australia has been lagging other countries in preventing and responding to sexual harassment. I hope that this bill brings us back to the fore and that, as a parliament, we continue the important work of keeping us at the front of the pack.

Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I appreciate all of my colleagues coming in to listen to my speech. I'm glad the SMS went around and they all answered that, whenever I rise, they must rush into this place to hear the prose and the contribution. But this is a really important piece of legislation that I commend the Attorney-General on for his work of bringing it to the House, and I commend everybody who has contributed to this Respect at Work piece of legislation.

This is a bill where we owe a lot to the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins, who has taken on the really significant task for our country of tackling what really are, in many ways, cultural issues in the workplace. Something that I think we were all astonished to find is that up to a third of women in this country experience some form of sexual harassment in the workplace—up to a third. It really is quite breathtaking when you stop and think about that and about what that means for our colleagues, what that means for our counterparts and what that means for Australian women. Commissioner Jenkins's work to look at the issues and to look at how we tackle this as a country has been profound and it has been powerful, and we thank her for that work.

This bill tackles a range of things which, depending on how long I have, I will go into. But I want to read something that Commissioner Jenkins has said:

The current legal and regulatory system is simply no longer fit for purpose. In this report—

the inquiry report—

I have recommended a new model that improves the coordination, consistency and clarity between the antidiscrimination, employment and work health and safety legislative schemes.

Earlier in the report she said:

Workplace sexual harassment is not inevitable. It is not acceptable. It is preventable.

Commissioner Jenkins concluded by saying:

… the rate of change has been disappointingly slow. Australia now lags behind other countries in preventing and responding to sexual harassment.

Unfortunately, the legislative scheme that we inherited from the previous government wasn't enough; it needed to be upgraded and updated. I think this is something that's also shared across the parliament. I think that the 47th Parliament brings with it a new sense of focus and a new sense of constructiveness—hopefully. But I also remember the cultural moment that our country faced in the previous parliament, when this building was under the most intense spotlight for all the wrong reasons. This was a moment being presented to this country, the Prime Minister and this parliament by the women of Australia. It was an extremely powerful moment, standing outside this place and hearing the likes of Brittany Higgins and others speaking in a way that was one of the most extraordinary speeches I've ever heard in this precinct.

I remember sitting on the other side of the chamber, hearing what was a predetermined address for question time—a pre-planned address in question time, not one of the impromptu addresses but something that the Prime Minister had prepared coming into question time. He said that in other places around the world such marches are met with bullets, and that the women of Australia should be glad that that isn't the case here. Not only was that disturbing because it was a preprepared remark, which had obviously been considered by the former Prime Minister and his office, but it was also just so tone deaf and so wrong in its content. Even off the cuff it would have been completely unacceptable. This bill and Commissioner Jenkins sought to change that completely incorrect and off-putting remark into something far more powerful and productive. The report by Commissioner Jenkins was commenced and this bill seeks to respond to it.

One of the key recommendations by the commissioner is about—

Anika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's nearly time—

Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To finish?

Anika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Approaching.

Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On approach. I was just building up to the best part of the speech! But as the Prime Minister is coming into the chamber, I will just make a couple of very short closing remarks. This has been the subject of a lot of work by people in order to make changes in this country, and is something that is desperately needed. This is about reform that will last and will be meaningful, and reform that will make Australian workplaces safer. This is reform that I am proud that this Labor government has brought to this House and it's reform which will change lives and make our workplaces safer. I thank Commissioner Jenkins and I thank those who have contributed to this bill.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I believe very firmly that there are some basic yardsticks by which any civilised society should measure itself. One of those is that everyone has the right to a safe and respectful workplace. And yet, here we are, nearly a quarter of the way through the 21st century and still working towards this goal. The fact that workplaces have not been safe or respectful for so many Australians is simply unacceptable, as is the fact that the previous government dismissed this goal as 'impractical' and not worth striving for—that what we had was somehow good enough. It was not, and it is not. That is what this legislation seeks to address.

That's why Labor campaigned on a promise to implement in full every single one of the recommendations in the Respect@Work report into sexual harassment in Australian workplaces. And that is why, shortly after I had the honour of being sworn in as Prime Minister, I reiterated that this election promise was now a key part of the agenda of the new government. We owe a great debt of gratitude to everyone who stepped up to share their experiences with Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, especially the survivors who did so at great emotional cost. It certainly can't have been easy to relive some of those moments and put difficult memories into words. But, because of their courage, we now have a map towards a better future. We promise to follow that map.

The Australian people can be confident that they now have a government that sticks to our plans. The Australian people put their faith in us, and we'll deliver on the commitments that we gave, including this legislation. Since the election less than six months ago, we have not wasted a day. We have fulfilled our promise to establish family and domestic violence leave, because no woman should have to choose between her job and her safety. We are acting on our commitments to build more affordable housing for women and children fleeing violence, including the $100 million that we allocated in the budget for emergency housing. We know that tonight, like every night, tragically in Australia a woman, sometimes a woman with her children, will be turned away from emergency shelters because there simply isn't anywhere for them to go. We know that they're likely to spend the night in a park or in a car or on a friend's couch. We can do so much better in 2022, and we're obligated to do so. We're acting on the commitment that we made—and it's funded in the budget—for an additional 500 frontline workers to support women as they make these courageous and often difficult transitions. We're acting on our commitment to introduce cheaper child care and early education, and we're fulfilling another commitment with the introduction of this legislation.

In short, this bill will strengthen laws to help prevent sexual harassment. Why do we need to do it? Well, it should be obvious that everyone does have a right to a safe and a respectful workplace. The government is acting to help put an end to sexual harassment in Australian workplaces. Let's take a look at some uncomfortable facts. Over the past five years, one in three people experienced sexual harassment at work, with women experiencing higher rates of harassment than men. Time and time again it is women who bear the brunt. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with a disability and members of the LGBTQ + community are also, on average, more likely to experience workplace sexual harassment. No-one should have to suffer stress or anxiety because they feel uncomfortable or unsafe at work. No-one should have to leave their job and lose their income or disrupt their career because they're being harassed. Along with all the human costs in terms of physical and mental health, there is also an economic cost of sexual harassment. This has been estimated to be close to $4 billion ever year.

The former government sat on the Jenkins report for almost a year without responding to the recommendations, and then, of course, they refused to implement many of the key recommendations. In parliament in 2021 the then government and now those opposite voted against Labor's amendments to introduce a positive duty on employers to eliminate sexual harassment. Dwell on that for a moment: a positive duty to eliminate sexual harassment. It was a step too far for some. In spite of the very clear recommendations of the Jenkins report, they voted against it. They voted against prohibiting sexual harassment under our workplace laws, voted against protecting victims amassing massive legal bills when they tried to seek justice, voted against making substantive equality between women and men the objective of the Sex Discrimination Act and voted against allowing unions and other organisations to bring legal action on behalf of victims.

Nothing exemplified the former government's failures as clearly as its response to the Women's March4Justice. Many people from across the chamber, and certainly many of my colleagues, walked the very short distance out to the front of Parliament House on that day. What we saw was women of different generations responding—not just here, of course, but around the country—and saying, as the banner showed, 'Enough is enough!' and that it was actually time for people to be heard. And that day we heard a truth that we all needed to hear. Afterwards, in the chamber here, we had a bit of a debate. I'll never forget it. The then Prime Minister suggested that we give ourselves a pat on the back as a nation because the protest was not met with bullets! It was quite an extraordinary moment. As I said at the time, the government had not so much a tin ear as a wall of concrete.

It's no wonder, given that that was the attitude, that Australia during the term of the former government fell to 70th in the world for women's economic participation and opportunity. When government changed in 2013 we went from being the 24th most equal country in the world—for equality between women and men—to the 50th. We know that, across the country, too many working women are underappreciated, underpaid and disrespected. This is an issue for over half of the country, for women, but it is also an issue for the nation as a whole because we're all held back as a nation when we don't value and create the opportunity for all of us, men and women, to participate fully in our economy and in our society.

On 21 May, Australians voted to change this. They voted to support all of the key recommendations of the Respect@Work report, and we're continuing to work across government, with business and others, to ensure that all of these recommendations are implemented. This bill will implement key legislative changes recommended by Commissioner Jenkins that were left unfinished by the former government. It will place a positive duty on employers to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sex discrimination, sexual harassment and victimisation as far as possible. It will give the Australian Human Rights Commission new powers to enforce that positive duty, to help make sure employers are meeting their obligations. It will expressly prohibit conduct that results in a hostile workplace environment on the basis of gender. It will ensure Commonwealth public sector organisations are also required to report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency on its gender equality indicators.

In addition, the government has introduced amendments to the Fair Work Act in the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022 to prohibit sexual harassment under our workplace relations laws, making it clear that sexual harassment is a serious workplace issue. The amendments to the Fair Work Act also include an additional pathway for affected workers to obtain quick and effective assistance from the Fair Work Commission. Those changes, along with the bill before us today, are a key part of our mission to progress gender equality across all our work as a government. Its passage will move Australia forward in our efforts to prevent workplace sexual harassment from happening in the first place.

Our budget last month, with its investment in child care and paid parental leave, represented Australia's biggest ever investment in women's economic equality. With this bill, we recognise that achieving women's economic equality includes making sure that women are safe at work. We must never accept that sexual harassment is somehow either inevitable or unavoidable. It is anything but. Nor should we be tempted by the dangerous fiction that somehow we are not capable of improvement. We are. Let's make these changes and move forward with our national story.

I said during the campaign, consistently, that we do live in the greatest nation on earth, and I certainly believe that. But an even greater nation is within our reach. The greater nation is one that values our people across the spectrum, men and women, and that provides opportunity that supports equality. Thanks to the courage of every victim-survivor who has stepped forward, we have no reason not to provide support to them and to acknowledge their courage by supporting this legislation. These people have shown the way. It is something that we should all embrace as part of the determination that we share to shape Australia into the very best version that we can be, a nation that reflects our highest ideals. I know that together we can build a better future, one with equality and respect at its core. I commend the bill to the House.

Cassandra Fernando (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to 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.

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of this important bill. Respect at work is a right that every person should have, and this bill addresses that. The Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Bill 2022 represents a significant step forward in implementing the government's commitment to preventing sexual harassment at the workplace.

We have committed to fully implementing the recommendations in the landmark Respect@Work report. That is an important first step. I say that because I believe that, as a country, we have dropped the ball on this issue. We were once regarded as being at the forefront of tackling sexual harassment globally. States including my home state of South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria enacted antidiscrimination laws covering the ground of sexual harassment in the late 1970s. However, the report finds that, in Australia over the past 35 years, the rate of change has been disappointingly slow, and that is not a good sign. Australia now lags behind other countries in preventing, and responding to, sexual harassment.

The Australian Human Rights Commission found that sexual harassment in Australian workplaces is widespread. In its 2018 survey, it found that one in three people had experienced sexual harassment at work in the past five years. That is totally unacceptable. When you think about that, those numbers are enormous. We also found that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were found to be even more likely to have experienced workplace sexual harassment. It's up to us to stand up and demand that we as a nation do better. We must. Workplace sexual harassment is not inevitable. It is not acceptable, full stop, and it is preventable. We are all responsible for creating safe, gender-equal and inclusive workplaces—in all workplaces. This is why we are so supportive of this bill.

This bill will significantly strength and clarify the legal and regulatory frameworks relating to sexual harassment in Australia. In particular, the bill introduces a positive duty on employers and business owners. In addition, the bill will amend the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 and the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012. This is important because the commission and the act need to have the capability of enforcing and ensuring these changes in the workplace. It will also provide the commission with a broad ability to inquire into systematic unlawful discrimination.

We are committed to ensuring that Australia gets back to being the leading force on equality and wiping out workplace sexual harassment. We don't want any Australian being held back because of gender or any other form of discrimination. This is why this government is investing $7 billion to drive gender equality. It is also why we are delivering cheaper child care for 96 per cent of Australian families and why we are expanding the Paid Parental Leave scheme up to 26 weeks by July 2026. It is also why we are addressing the growing gender pay gap by investing $20.2 million to establish two new expert panels on pay equality. And we are making gender equality an objective of the Fair Work Act 2009 and legislating a statutory equal renumeration principle.

We are also investing $42.5 million to implement all the recommendations of the Respect@Work report. This includes funding women's centres in all states and territories which provide free advice and assistance to women, the implementation of 10 days paid domestic and family violence leave, and additional crisis and transitional housing options for women and children fleeing domestic and family violence and older women on low incomes who are at risk of homelessness.

The changes proposed by this bill are an important part of these widespread reforms, so I commend the bill to the House.

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank honourable members for their contribution to the debate on this Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Bill 2022. This bill is a significant milestone in delivering on the government's commitment to fully implement the Respect@Work report. It represents an historic shift in how public policy and the legislative framework supports people who experience sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace. I thank the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins. I thank members of the Respect@Work Council and all those who have worked and continue to work to implement the Respect@Work report recommendations and drive change in Australian workplaces.

The government has moved decisively to implement seven of the recommendations of the Respect@Work report through this bill. These reforms will have an immediate impact in setting cultural norms around preventative effort and are critical for ensuring safer, respectful and more equitable workplaces in Australia. The cornerstone recommendation of the Respect@Work report which is implemented by this bill is the introduction of a positive duty on employers to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate certain forms of unlawful sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, as far as possible. To ensure the positive duty is effective, the bill will provide the Australian Human Rights Commission with new functions to monitor and enforce compliance with the duty, working with businesses along the way to support their compliance. This will implement recommendations 17 and 18 of the Respect@Work report.

The bill will replace the object clause, inserted by the respect at work act 2021, which stated that an object of the act is to achieve 'equality of opportunity' between men and women with 'substantive equality' between men and women. This will implement recommendation 16(a) of the Respect@Work report. The bill will also implement recommendations 16(b) and 16(c) by expressly prohibiting in the Sex Discrimination Act conduct that results in a hostile workplace environment on the basis of sex, and ensuring the provision relating to sex-based harassment prohibits an appropriate range of conduct by removing the reference to conduct of a 'seriously' demeaning nature.

The bill will provide the Australian Human Rights Commission with a broad inquiry function to inquire into systemic unlawful discrimination, implementing recommendation 19. The bill will insert a cost protection provision in the Australian Human Rights Commission Act to provide greater certainty to parties during court proceedings in relation to costs. It will also remove procedural barriers in the Australian Human Rights Commission Act by enabling representative bodies to continue representative complaints in the federal courts. These measures will implement recommendations 23 and 25. This bill will ensure that Commonwealth public sector organisations are also required to report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency on their gender equality indicators, pursuant to recommendation 43. The bill will also make amendments arising from the changes made by the respect at work act 2021 to provide consistency across the Commonwealth antidiscrimination framework and to achieve the intended outcomes of the Respect@Work report. This includes clarifying that victimising conduct can form the basis of a civil action for unlawful discrimination, and ensuring that a complaint can be terminated by the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission only if it is made more than 24 months after the alleged unlawful conduct took place.

This bill will significantly strengthen the legal and regulatory frameworks relating to sexual harassment and increase the focus on prevention. In doing so, this bill represents a paradigm shift in how public policy and the legislative framework supports people who experience sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Sexual harassment is unacceptable, but it is by no means inevitable. It is preventable. This bill is a crucial step in the government's ongoing prevention efforts. There is more work to do to implement the remaining Respect@Work report recommendations, and the government is committed to this task.

I thank all honourable members who have moved amendments to the bill for their contributions to and engagement with the bill. The amendments moved by the opposition bear no actual resemblance to the recommendations of the Respect@Work report, and so the government will not be supporting them. The amendments moved by the members for Wentworth and Warringah, while I appreciate the intent behind them, go beyond the scope of the Respect@Work report. The government will not support them.

I would like to spend a short amount of time discussing the member for Kooyong's amendment. This is a very important matter, and it is not a simple matter. The issue of the cost model in the bill has been the subject of some debate recently, so I'd like to set out just why the Australian Human Rights Commission and Commissioner Jenkins have recommended the model in the bill. Let's be very clear about this—the cost model in the bill is the model recommended by the Australian Human Rights Commission and Commissioner Jenkins. That recommendation was the product of extensive consultation and careful consideration by the commission. Importantly, we are not talking about a cost provision that would apply only to matters involving allegations of sexual harassment in an employment context, which is the example that has been cited by the member for Kooyong and others.

The costs provision in the bill would apply to all federal discrimination matters equally. Under the costs model in the bill, the default position would be that an applicant and a respondent would have to bear their own costs only. However, the court would retain a discretion to award costs in the interest of justice, which will be decided according to a set of mandatory criteria, including the financial circumstances of the parties, the conduct of the parties, whether the proceedings involved an issue of public importance, and other matters. This is a vast improvement on the status quo. Currently when it comes to discrimination matters the default provision is that an unsuccessful party will be ordered to pay the other side's costs. And as Commissioner Jenkins told us in the Respect@Work report, this risk of an adverse costs order deters victims of sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination from pursuing claims in the federal courts. As Commissioner Jenkins recently told a Senate committee, the costs model in the government's bill—and I quote from her evidence—'addresses the deterrent factor discussed in the Respect@Work report while also giving the courts significant flexibility to make costs orders in the interests of justice'. That is a really key point.

I've listened carefully to the member for Kooyong. I've listened carefully to the many individual advocates and organisations who have contacted me and my office and contacted other ministers in the government in support of what is often called an equal access costs model. The government takes the concerns that have been raised very seriously and will continue to consider those concerns as we finalise our response to the Senate committee's report on this bill. I would note that in her speech on the bill the member for Kooyong referred to sexual harassment and sex discrimination matters and referred to the need to change workplace cultures that permit discriminatory treatment. I understand and share her concerns and agree that we need to change workplace cultures that permit discriminatory treatment. That is fundamentally what this bill is about, particularly when it comes to the introduction of a positive duty on employers to eliminate sexual harassment and sex discrimination.

However, it must not be forgotten that the costs provision in this bill and the alternative model proposed by the member for Kooyong would apply equally to all discrimination matters, not just sexual harassment and sex discrimination matters and not just employment matters or matters where there exists a vast asymmetry of power and advantage. It cannot be assumed that respondents to all discrimination claims will have deep pockets. In some cases respondents may be sole traders or small-business owners. Respondents may be unincorporated associations or local sporting clubs. The costs model in the bill seeks to strike a balance when it comes to discrimination matters generally, and I accept that reasonable minds may differ on whether the bill strikes that balance appropriately.

Importantly, the model in the bill includes a discretion for courts to award costs in the interests of justice. In considering the interests of justice in a particular case—such as a sexual harassment matter in an employment context, where, as the member for Kooyong says, there will almost invariably exist a vast asymmetry of power and economic advantage—the bill directs a court to consider the financial circumstances of each of the parties, whether the subject matter of the proceedings involves an issue of public importance, and other relevant considerations. And that is a really key point.

More broadly, I would like to reiterate that this is just the start, in the earliest months of a new government, of a conversation about human rights and antidiscrimination in this country. It's a conversation that I welcome and that I want to keep having. I thank the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee for their considered inquiry into and report on the bill. I note the Senate committee's recommendation that I should refer for inquiry by the Australian Law Reform Commission the operation of the cost provisions in the bill, including a focus on public interest litigation under those provisions, six to 12 months after royal assent. I will have more to say about that soon. I also welcome the Senate committee's recommendation that the bill be passed. I again thank all honourable members of this House for their contributions to the debate and commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.