The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee is currently receiving submissions on the Sex Discrimination Amendment Bill 2013.

The Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus QC has advised that the Australian Government will not proceed with the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill 2012 at this time. In its place, the Australian Government has introduced legislation into Parliament to expand the protection against discrimination on the grounds of 'sex' to include sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status.

Following a period of public consultation, the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee has released its report on the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill 2012, suppporting the passage of the Bill with some amendments. Newly appointed Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the Australian Government welcomed the Committee's report including the recommendation to remove clause 19(2)(b) on the basis that it could impede freedom of expression.

Commonwealth Attorney-General Nicola Roxon announced today that her department is currently considering possible alternative definitions of discrimination under the draft Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill 2012 after receiving extensive feedback on the definition of discrimination, particularly clause 19(2)(b), through the media and Senate Inquiry process.

The Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs has scheduled public hearings for its inquiry into the exposure draft of the Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Bill 2012.

The Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs has released the submission deadline and reporting date for its inquiry into the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill 2012. Submissions will be due on 21 December 2012 and the committee will publish its final report by 18 February 2012.

The Government has released an exposure draft of the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill 2012. You can read the Attorney-General and Minister for Finance and Deregulation’s media release here. Please visit this link to access the Bill, explanatory notes, Regulatory Impact Statement and fact sheet.

Attorney-General Nicola Roxon was recently interviewed on Sky Australian Agenda and made a number of comments about the Consolidation Project. The following are the relevant extracts of the interview.

The Supreme Court of Brazil recently passed two highly important decisions on the matter of “special measures” or “affirmative action” policies with regard to access to higher education for underprivileged members of Brazilian society.

Attorney-General Nicola Roxon has announced an Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) review of review of Commonwealth legislation and policies that create barriers for older people participating in the workforce or other productive work.

On 24 January 2012, the Human Rights Law Centre released its submission in response to the Attorney-General department’s discussion paper on the consolidation of federal anti-discrimination laws. The HRLC’s submission, Realising the Right to Equality, recommends simplifying, strengthening and updating the law to ensure that Australia fulfils its human rights obligations under international law.

This week David and Goliath have been playing it out in the Federal Court of Australia.

The Federal Court of Australia handed down a decision which found that comments made by Andrew Bolt in two 2009 articles published by the Herald and Weekly Times breached provisions of the Racial Discrimination Act which prohibit racially offensive conduct...

Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, and Minister for Finance and De-Regulation, Penny Wong, have today released a Discussion Paper on the Consolidation of Commonweath Anti-Discrimination Laws. Submissions are due on 1 February 2012.

New Resource: The Federal Discrimination Law Comparative Table has recently been updated to reflect amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and the Age Discrimination Act 2004 by the Sex and Age Discrimination Legislation Amendment Act 2011.

The AFL's Andrew Demetriou to share thoughts on how diversity can give organisations a competitive edge.

The Government has not indicated it will consider the Yogyakarta Principles when consolidating anti-discrimination laws.

The Australian Government has accepted a UN recommendation that its consolidated equality legislation promote substantive equality and address all grounds of discrimination.

Premier Ted Baillieu will reintroduce the previosuly defeated Bill that will make it lawful for some organisations to discriminate on the basis of gender, marital status...

Writing in the The Sunday Age, Farrah Tomazin has reported that Victoria's Equal Opportunity Commissioner, Dr Helen Szoke, along with the Law Institute of Victoria President, Caroline Counsel, and Executive Director of the Human Rights Law Centre, Phil Lynch, is concerned changes to the Victorian Equal Opportunity Act will diminish equality.

The Government’s proposed changes to the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 have today been...

The Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) has unveiled a new website, EqualityLaw.org.au...