7th Nov 2022, 4:05 PM – Representatives Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Bill 2022 - Consideration in Detail - Extending protection

The majority voted in favour of disagreeing with amendments introduced by Wentworth MP Allegra Spender (Independent), which means they failed and won't be included in the bill.

Rebellion

Bass MP Bridget Archer (Liberal) crossed the floor to vote 'No' in this division while the rest of her party voted "Yes". This means that Ms Archer supported these amendments.

What did the amendments do?

Ms Spender explained that:

I celebrate the respect at work bill and I commend the government for putting forward this legislation at this time. However, in the noble pursuit of swiftly implementing the remaining findings of the Respect@Work report, this bill is too narrowly focused on sex. Hostile environment provisions and the positive duty to prevent discrimination do not extend to the full range of characteristics protected under the Sex Discrimination Act, including sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, pregnancy or relationship status. In particular, this bill does not provide appropriate protection to LGBTQ people. That is absolutely crucial in our consideration because there's ample evidence that LGBTQ people are particularly vulnerable to hostile environments in the workplace and are particularly vulnerable to the mental health impacts of such environments.

The bill also creates inconsistency in terms of what we're asking from business, who must already comply with antidiscrimination law that relates to all the protected characteristics under the Sex Discrimination Act.

The amendment I have moved extends the hostile workplace environment and positive duty provisions in this bill to cover all characteristics that are protected under the Sex Discrimination Act. It provides protections for the LGBTQ community and greater consistency and ease of implementation for business. I commend the amendment to the House.

Amendment text

(1) Schedule 1, item 2, page 3 (line 12), after “sex”, insert “, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, marital or relationship status, pregnancy or potential pregnancy, breastfeeding or family responsibilities”.

(2) Schedule 1, item 3, page 3 (before line 15), before the definition of workplace , insert:

discrimination matter means the following:

(a) a matter mentioned in any of paragraphs 5(1)(a) to (c) (sex discrimination);

(b) a matter mentioned in any of paragraphs 5A(1)(a) to (c) (discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation);

(c) a matter mentioned in any of paragraphs 5B(1)(a) to (c) (discrimination on the ground of gender identity);

(d) a matter mentioned in any of paragraphs 5C(1)(a) to (c) (discrimination on the ground of intersex status);

(e) a matter mentioned in any of paragraphs 6(1)(a) to (c) (discrimination on the ground of marital or relationship status);

(f) a matter mentioned in any of paragraphs 7(1)(a) to (c) (discrimination on the ground of pregnancy or potential pregnancy);

(g) a matter mentioned in any of paragraphs 7AA(1)(a) to (c) (discrimination on the ground of breastfeeding);

(h) a matter mentioned in any of subparagraphs 7A(b)(i) to (iii) (discrimination on the ground of family responsibilities).

(3) Schedule 1, item 4, page 3 (lines 19 to 29 ), omit section 8A, substitute:

8A Workplace environment that is hostile for 2 or more reasons

For the purposes of this Act, a workplace environment may be offensive, intimidating or humiliating to a person by reason of a discrimination matter if it is offensive, intimidating or humiliating by reason of 2 or more matters that include a discrimination matter, whether or not the discrimination matter is the dominant or substantial reason.

(4) Schedule 1, item 5, page 4 (line 5), at the end of subsection 28M(1), add “, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, marital or relationship status, pregnancy or potential pregnancy, breastfeeding or family responsibilities”.

(5) Schedule 1, item 5, page 4 (lines 7 and 8), omit “the ground of sex”, substitute “a ground mentioned in subsection (1)”.

(6) Schedule 1, item 5, page 4 (lines 13 to 22), omit paragraph 28M(2)(c), substitute:

(c) a reasonable person, having regard to all the circumstances, would have anticipated the possibility of the conduct resulting in the workplace environment being offensive, intimidating or humiliating to a person with the characteristics of the second person by reason of a discrimination matter.

(7) Schedule 1, item 6, page 5 (line 4), after “sex”, insert “, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, marital or relationship status, pregnancy or potential pregnancy, breastfeeding or family responsibilities”.

(8) Schedule 2, item 8, page 7 (line 23), after “sex”, insert “, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, marital or relationship status, pregnancy or potential pregnancy, breastfeeding or family responsibilities”.