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Human Rights and Anti-discrimination bill committee stage
Late yesterday, the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee recommended extending Australia’s anti-discrimination protection to include:
1 – Protecting people from discrimination because of sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex.
2 – Making religious organisations follow the same discrimination rules as everyone else in many areas (so religious schools can’t expel gay students or refuse welfare services to pregnant women).
3 – Preventing discrimination because of irrelevant criminal records, which particularly impacts Indigenous communities.The specific section of the committee report dealing with sexual orientation and gender identity makes the following comments:
Quote:7.11 The committee welcomes the introduction of protections for individuals on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity for the first time in Commonwealth anti-discrimination legislation. This is an historic reform that is long overdue, and will provide significant benefits to sex and gender diverse Australians.7.12 In relation to the formulation of the definition of ‘gender identity’ in the Draft Bill, the committee considers that some improvements are necessary in order to provide comprehensive protection on the basis of this attribute. Many submitters and witnesses expressed concern that the current definition is too restrictive and does not go far enough to cover gender-related identity, appearance or mannerisms. The committee concurs that the definition of gender identity should be drafted so as to provide the maximum possible protection for gender diverse individuals.
7.13 The committee also considers that the ‘genuine basis’ qualification provided in the Draft Bill’s definition of gender identity is unnecessary, and in no way enhances the effectiveness of the definition; instead, it has the potential to cause confusion about when an individual will be covered by this protected attribute.
7.14 The committee notes comments from the Department that the definition of gender identity in the Draft Bill reflects the most expansive standard of protection in the states and territories at the time of drafting, and that since that time a more expansive definition has been proposed in the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Amendment Bill 2012.[2] The committee considers that the proposed Tasmanian definition provides broad coverage for the attribute of gender identity, and notes that there was widespread support among stakeholders to this inquiry for the adoption of this definition in the Draft Bill.
7.15 Accordingly, the committee is recommending that the definition of ‘gender identity’ in clause 6 of the Draft Bill be replaced with the definition in the proposed Tasmanian legislation.
It also makes a recommendation as follows:
Quote:7.20 The committee recommends that the definition of ‘gender identity’ in clause 6 of the Draft Bill be amended to read:gender identity means the gender-related identity, appearance or mannerisms or other gender-related characteristics of an individual (whether by way of medical intervention or not), with or without regard to the individual’s designated sex at birth, and includes transsexualism and transgenderism.
I strongly recommend that TgR as a group also adopt such an inclusive definition of gender diversity.
Get-up is lobbying for this change to pass through the current parliament.
http://www.getup.org.au/time-for-actionMembers may care to lend their support to this campaign as it has the potential to reduce discrimination in our community.
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4 Replies
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I’m sure you knew I woild like this and I did! Excellent work I say and I hope everyone will take this opportunity to have a say . The link is great it is simple to support and it has mine! Let our voices be heard!
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This is fantastic, finally a bit of recognition without having to jump through any hoops. I really hope it goes through unhindered.
I most certainly gave them my support through the link as well.
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an update from Get-up
Quote:We’re writing with a quick update on the anti-discrimination bill you fought to strengthen, a bill that would have brought greater equality under the law to all Australians.Unfortunately, despite a large number of champions both within and outside of Parliament (including more than 34,000 GetUp member actions), many of the reforms have been shelved. With just a few weeks of Parliament remaining this year, new Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says the laws need further work, and likely won’t be introduced before the election.
But it isn’t all bad news. Just today an amendment to the Sex Discrimination Act that would include gender identity and sexual orientation was tabled – a reform GetUp members fought for this year, that now enjoys bi-partisan support. Hundreds of thousands of Australians will benefit. It means that for the first time, gay, lesbian, transgender and intersex Australians will be protected in law from discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity, in the same way that our gender and race are currently protected.
Anti-discrimination laws still need our support. There’s much more to do: we still won’t see an end to legally endorsed discrimination by religious groups, nor discrimination against victims of domestic violence, which disproportionately affects women.
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The Bill has stalled for amendments and I think it’ll be one of the pieces of legislation that will have a very high . That said, I think it’ll assume a very high priority when Government reconvenes in May. I am happy that there will be laws that actually identify TGs and this bill’s eventual passing will be a great achievement. I do however, hope the government doesn’t try to bulldoze it through as they tried with the new media bill.
