Respect at Work and Other Matters Amendment Bill 2024
Plain English Summary
Overview
This bill makes major reforms to Queensland's anti-discrimination laws, implementing recommendations from the national Respect@Work inquiry, the QHRC's Building Belonging review, and parliamentary committee reports on vilification. It also strengthens sentencing for workplace violence, clarifies judicial immunity, and gives magistrates access to parental leave.
Who it affects
Workers gain stronger protections against harassment and discrimination, while employers must now actively prevent unlawful conduct in their workplaces. New protections extend to people experiencing homelessness, domestic violence survivors, and those with irrelevant criminal or medical records.
Anti-discrimination and harassment protections
Expands protected attributes to include homelessness, physical appearance, irrelevant criminal and medical records, expunged convictions, and subjection to domestic violence. Introduces new prohibitions on sex-based harassment and hostile work environments. Creates a positive duty requiring employers to take proactive steps to prevent discrimination and harassment.
- Six new protected attributes added including homelessness, physical appearance, and irrelevant criminal record
- Employers must now actively prevent discrimination and harassment under a new positive duty, enforced by the Queensland Human Rights Commission
- New prohibition on sex-based harassment and hostile work environments at work
- Complaint timeframe extended from 1 year to 2 years for sex-based work complaints
- Registered unions can now bring representative complaints on behalf of groups of workers
Vilification law expansion
Expands vilification protections to cover age, sex, impairment, and sex characteristics alongside existing grounds. Introduces a new harm-based vilification provision and explicitly covers social media and online communication.
- Vilification protections expanded from 4 to 8 attributes, now including age, sex, and impairment
- New harm-based vilification provision focuses on harm to the individual, not just incitement of others
- Definition of 'public act' explicitly covers social media, online communication, and conduct on private land like workplaces and schools
Sentencing for workplace violence
Courts must now treat violence against a person performing their work duties as an aggravating factor when sentencing, covering all types of workers including volunteers and contractors.
- Violence against any worker performing their duties becomes a mandatory aggravating sentencing factor
- Applies to employees, contractors, volunteers, and all working arrangements
- Courts may only disregard the factor in exceptional circumstances
Judicial immunity and magistrates' leave
Clarifies that magistrates, District Court judges, and QCAT officers have the same protection and immunity as Supreme Court judges. Allows magistrates to access unpaid parental leave.
- Magistrates and District Court judges confirmed to have same immunity as Supreme Court judges
- Magistrates can now access unpaid parental leave for the first time
Bill Journey
▸Committee14 June 2024View Hansard
Referred to Community Safety and Legal Affairs Committee
The Community Safety and Legal Affairs Committee examined the Respect at Work and Other Matters Amendment Bill 2024 over approximately six weeks, receiving 37 written submissions and holding a public hearing in Brisbane. The committee recommended the bill be passed, finding it had sufficient regard for fundamental legislative principles and that any limitations on human rights were reasonable and justified. Most stakeholders supported the reforms, though some religious organisations expressed concern about the impact on religious freedoms, and several advocacy groups were disappointed the bill did not go further. Two LNP members filed a Statement of Reservation raising concerns about legal uncertainty in the positive duty and vilification provisions.
Key findings (5)
- Most stakeholders supported the bill's objectives, including expanding protected attributes, introducing a positive duty to prevent discrimination, and strengthening vilification protections.
- Some religious organisations and individuals expressed concern that the bill would unreasonably burden religious schools and restrict the ability to teach and hire staff in accordance with religious convictions.
- Several stakeholders were disappointed the bill did not include additional reforms from the Queensland Human Rights Commission's Building Belonging Report, including a positive duty to make reasonable accommodations for people with disability and reform of religious school exemptions.
- The committee was satisfied that the bill's limitations on freedom of expression through strengthened vilification provisions were reasonable and demonstrably justifiable.
- The Department of Justice and Attorney-General advised that the bill's practical impact on religious workplaces would be limited given equivalent prohibitions already existing in federal legislation.
Recommendations (1)
- The committee recommends that the Respect at Work and Other Matters Amendment Bill 2024 be passed.
Committee report tabled
▸In Detail10 Sept 2024View Hansard
Amendments Nos 1-2: Set commencement dates for different parts of the bill, with representative complaints provisions commencing 1 December 2024 and the majority of anti-discrimination reforms commencing 1 July 2025.
Amendment No. 3: Technical amendment clarifying that Schedule 1 also amends the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991.
Amendments Nos 4-6: Implement key Building Belonging report recommendations including protection from intersectional and cumulative discrimination (combination of two or more attributes), updated definitions of direct and indirect discrimination with shared burden of proof, and clarification that creating a disadvantaging environment constitutes indirect discrimination.
Amendments Nos 7-8: Clarify that the new sex-based harassment and hostile work environment provisions do not limit existing Anti-Discrimination Act protections on the basis of sex or any other attribute.
Amendment No. 9: Create a single two-year time limit for bringing all discrimination complaints, replacing the previous dual system of two years for sex-based complaints and one year for other complaints.
Amendments Nos 10-14: Expand the Queensland Human Rights Commissioner's powers to investigate systemic contraventions of the Anti-Discrimination Act, prepare and publish investigation reports, and require the Commission to issue guidelines on positive duty compliance.
Amendment No. 15: Introduce a shared burden of proof for discrimination complaints, where if facts suggest a contravention occurred, the respondent must prove they did not contravene the provision.
Amendments Nos 16-24: Technical and consequential amendments including updated dictionary definitions for expunged conviction, homelessness, potential pregnancy (to include assisted reproductive technology), trade union activity, and transitional provisions for the new burden of proof.
Amendments Nos 25-26: Consequential amendments to Corrective Services Act provisions on prisoner discrimination and clarification that the serious assault offence applies to operational workers in public hospitals including security officers, wardspersons, cleaners and food service workers.
Amendments Nos 27-28: Introduce reserve judge provisions for the District Court and Supreme Court, allowing retired judges to be appointed as reserve judges and engaged for up to six months at a time, with corresponding remuneration arrangements under the Judicial Remuneration Act 2007.
Amendments Nos 29-30: Amend sentencing transcript provisions so courts only provide copies of sentencing reasons to Corrective Services upon request from the chief executive.
Amendments Nos 31-34: Insert provisions for reserve judges in the Supreme Court, consequential amendments replacing 'unfavourable treatment' with 'detriment' throughout the Anti-Discrimination Act, and amendments to various Queensland Acts relating to the new Commonwealth Administrative Review Tribunal.
Referenced Entities
Legislation
Organisations
Sectors Affected
Classified using AGIFT/ANZSIC Australian government standards