“The introduction of a positive duty was strongly supported by consultations and submissions,would aim to foster cultural change,and would shift the focus of the act from being reactive to proactive,” McDougall said.
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Victoria is the only Australian jurisdiction witha positive duty approach to discrimination.
Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins’Respect@Work report urged a similar onus on employers to prevent workplace sexual harassment,rather than responding to complaints.
Queensland’s proposed changes – outlined across 46 recommendations and including the writing of an entirely new Anti-Discrimination Act – would extend protection to more groups,including homeless people,along with improving the complaint and dispute resolution system.
The commission also suggested range of changes around religious organisations,including a removal of blanket carve-outs for faith-based discrimination against staff at schools,and tightening the grounds for discrimination against students when they first enroll.
In a statement on Thursday,Christian Schools Australia public policy director hit out at the narrowed exemptions as an effort to “embed QHRC ideology” which would leave the rights of parents to choose a school reflecting their beliefs and values “trashed”.
Prisoners should also be given a faster and more flexible avenue than the present internal process of up to four months before they can complain to the commission,the report says.
The commission would be empowered to launch investigations and even legally enforceable agreements with those found to have breached the laws – a feature introduced but later repealed from the Victorian model.
“While there has been considerable support for the inclusion of these powers in discrimination laws,and despite being a common feature of other regulatory frameworks familiar to many duty holders,there is no current example of the operation of these powers in a human rights agency,” the report notes.
It also calls on the government to boost funding for legal and advocacy services,tribunals,and the commission itself to ensure expanded roles can be met,along with assigning a parliamentary committee and cross-departmental group to oversee the reforms.
On Tuesday,Fentiman welcomed the report as an opportunity to “build a Queensland where everyone belongs”. The government will provide a full response to the recommendations by year’s end.
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