Discussion Paper: Modernisation of the Anti-Discrimination Act

This consultation is now closed.

The Anti-Discrimination Act 1992 (the Act) commenced on 1 August 1993. Discrimination law is an evolving area of practice and needs to keep pace with contemporary standards and expectations. In 2017, the Department of the Attorney‑General and Justice commenced a review of the Act to ensure it continues to meet the needs of the community.

As part of that review, a discussion paper outlining proposed reforms to the Act was released. The proposed reforms included:

modernising gender and sexuality protections and language in line with the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth);
changes to the law to support an end to discrimination against people of diverse sexualities accessing artificial fertilisation procedures;
introducing new protections under the Act such as domestic violence, homelessness, lawful sexual activity and socioeconomic status;
introducing specific anti-vilification laws prohibiting offensive conduct on the basis of race, religious belief, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status;
extending coverage of the sexual harassment provisions to include all areas of public life;
introducing a representative complaints model that enables organisations to bring complaints about acts of systemic discrimination on behalf of groups who may be limited in their ability to bring an individual complaint;
removing some of the exemptions for religious and cultural organisations; and
broadening the scope of clubs by removal of the requirement for clubs to sell or supply liquor for consumption on its premises.

Public Consultation Sessions

Date	Area	Time	Venue
Thursday 12 October 2017	Palmerston	10.00am	Cazalys Palmerston Club (bistro area)
	Darwin	5.30pm	Hilton Darwin, 32 Mitchell Street
Friday 13 October 2017	Darwin	12.30pm	Hilton Darwin, 32 Mitchell Street
Saturday 14 October 2017	Humpty Doo	10.30am	Village Green
Tuesday 17 October 2017	Casuarina	10.30am	Casuarina Library
Friday 27 October 2017	Katherine	12.00pm	Katherine Government Centre conference room
Wednesday 1 November 2017	Tennant Creek	11.00am	Tennant Creek training centre
Friday 3 November 2017	Alice Springs	10.00am	CASA Central Office, 6/5 Hartley Street
Friday 10 November 2017	Nhulunbuy	11.00am	Nhulunbuy Corporation Boardroom
Thursday 16 November 2017	Darwin	12.30pm	Territory Conference Room, Development House, 76 The Esplanade, Darwin
Thursday 16 November 2017	Palmerston	5.30pm	Community Room, Palmerston Recreation Centre, 11 The Boulevard, Palmerston

Discussion Paper - PDF PDF (209.5 KB) | Word DOCX (85.7 KB)

The closing date for making comments is 31 January 2018.

The following non-confidential submissions were received in response to the discussion paper.

A number of the submissions have been redacted so as not to disclose personal information. If your submission contains redactions that you would like to be removed, please email: Policy.AGD@nt.gov.au.

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