Anti-Discrimination Bill 2024 consultation
On 4 May 2021 the Attorney-General requested that the Queensland Human Rights Commission (QHRC) undertake a review of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (the Act).
This review was the first holistic consideration of the Act since its introduction, and provided a valuable opportunity to ensure that Queensland’s anti-discrimination laws are up to date with the changing needs of our society.
The final report Building belonging: Review of Queensland’s Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (the Building belonging report) made 46 recommendations aimed at modernising and strengthening Queensland’s discrimination protections. It was tabled in Parliament on 1 September 2022.
The final Queensland Government response to the Building belonging report was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on 3 April 2023, supporting in-principle all recommendations—including a holistic redrafting of the current Act—and committing to the introduction of legislation in this term of government.
Draft Bill
The Queensland Government sought community feedback on the draft new Anti-Discrimination Bill 2024 (the draft Bill) that will replace the Act.
The proposed new anti-discrimination law would fundamentally alter the operation of Queensland’s discrimination legislation with a view to ensuring it is a modern and effective instrument that appropriately protects people from discrimination, sexual harassment, vilification and other objectionable/unlawful conduct.
The purpose of the draft Bill is to:
- promote and protect the rights to equality and non-discrimination
- eliminate discrimination, sexual harassment, vilification and other unlawful conduct to the greatest extent possible
- promote and facilitate the identification and elimination of systemic causes of discrimination, sexual harassment, vilification and victimisation
- promote and facilitate voluntary compliance with the legislation
- establish a flexible and efficient process for resolving complaints about alleged infringements of the legislation.
Consultation guide and papers
The Consultation guide (PDF) (or DOCX) provided an overview of the draft Bill to help stakeholders understand the scope of the proposed anti-discrimination law changes.
Given the nature and substantive law changes, we also provided the following targeted consultation papers about specific subject areas covered by the draft Bill:
- Equality and non-discrimination for people with disabilities consultation paper (PDF) (or DOCX)
- Affirmative measures consultation paper (PDF) (or DOCX)
- Exceptions for religious bodies consultation paper (PDF) (or DOCX).
Have your say
Submissions closed at 5pm on Friday 22 March 2024.
We are currently reviewing and considering all submissions as we continue to draft the Anti-Discrimination Bill 2024.
Your privacy
The Queensland Government is bound by the Information Privacy Act 2009—find out more by reading our privacy statement. Information you provided in your submission may be collected by the Department of Justice and Attorney-General (DJAG) for the purpose of informing this consultation. DJAG may contact you to request further information on the issues you raised in your submission, unless you told us in your submission that you don’t want to be contacted. Your submission may also be published on DJAG’s website, unless you requested it be treated as confidential. Please note that all submissions may be subject to disclosure under the Right to Information Act 2009.
Contact
If you have questions about the review, you can email adactreview@justice.qld.gov.au.