New anti-discrimination laws to protect LGBTIQ school students, staff

Sweeping new laws would better protect students and staff from discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexuality, plus stop people being turned away from jobs due to irrelevant criminal convictions. VOTE IN OUR POLL

School staff such as science teachers and groundskeepers would not be able to be discriminated against because of their sexuality or gender identity, under new laws proposed by the state’s Human Rights Commission.

And existing students could not be booted from classrooms because of their sexuality or gender, after a Brisbane Christian school asked families to sign ­contracts denouncing homosexuality.

The commission has recommended overhauling the state’s more than 30-year-old Anti-Discrimination Act because it does not protect everyone and lacks a preventive focus.

Its 46 recommendations include allowing children to be able to make discrimination complaints, while also making it harder for religious schools to discriminate against staff who do not share its beliefs.

People would not be able to be turned away from a job because of an irrelevant criminal conviction, such as a traffic offence, while victims of domestic and family violence would be better protected under the proposals.

Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman

Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman said current legislation was generally ­concerned with resolving complaints that had already occurred, rather than ­prevention.

“The QHRC reforms would create legal obligations on individuals and organisations to actively take reasonable and proportionate steps to eliminate sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and other discriminatory conduct as far as possible,” she said.

“Introducing a ‘positive duty’ upon employers to take reasonable measures to eliminate sexual harassment and discrimination was also a ­recommendation of the Respect@Work report.

“The QHRC report further recommends that victims of domestic and family violence are better protected from ­discrimination, such as when applying for a rental property or in workplace.”

Commissioner Scott McDougall recommended greater protections for LGBTIQ+ students and staff at religious schools, noting that a new Act should demonstrate that staff who are not involved in teaching or ­practice of religion, such as a science teacher, can be discriminated against.

It also recommended that discrimination on the grounds of sex or religion against an existing student, as opposed to a new enrolment, should be outlawed.

“The actions of Citipointe Christian College at the start of this year highlighted the importance of having specific protections for LGBTIQ+ students and staff at religious schools,” Ms Fentiman said.

The commission’s review of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 was launched last year following Ms Fentiman’s request.

It found that the Act focused on complaints that had already occurred, which created a reactive ­system that “places the burden on people who have experienced discrimination and sexual harassment”.

More than 120 stakeholder consultations were conducted, including four public consultations and six roundtables.

“In some areas, the Act no longer achieves the right balance between providing protection from discrimination and allowing for differential treatment for a genuine reason,” the report said.

“This is usually because the needs and aspirations of our society have changed.

“We also identified that some parts of the Act may be incompatible with the Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld),” it said.

Citipointe Christian College at Brisbane’s Carindale

The commission also determined that a new Act should include an “irrelevant criminal record” attribute so that employers could not ­discriminate against someone with convictions, such as spent or expunged homosexual convictions.

“It has been over 30 years since the Goss government introduced Queensland’s Anti-Discrimination Act,” Ms Fentiman said.

“At the time, the legislation was groundbreaking, but three decades on our society is a different place with different values.”

The government is expected to respond by the end of the year.