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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