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John Quigley: How we will make WA a more modern and fairer society

John QuigleyThe West Australian
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Attorney-General John Quigley is drafting updated equal opportunity laws.
Camera IconAttorney-General John Quigley is drafting updated equal opportunity laws. Credit: pixel2013/Pixabay

A mark of a civilised society is how it treats the vulnerable among us in need of protection.

WA led the nation in this regard when the then-Labor government passed the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 which created an avenue for complaint for people discriminated against or harassed on the basis of certain personal attributes.

Since then, it has been unlawful to do things like fire someone for being too old, harass or discriminate against someone on the basis of their race, or fail to provide reasonable access to services for people in a wheelchair.

But society has changed a lot since 1984, when Neighbours was still in pre-production and Kim Hughes was Australia’s Test cricket captain.

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That’s why I asked the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia in 2019 to recommend enhancements to the Act to reflect modern Western Australian standards.

I was excited to on Tuesday table in Parliament the resulting report by the State’s first all-female Law Reform Commission comprised of retired Supreme Court Judge Lindy Jenkins, acting deputy State Solicitor Kirsten Chivers and University of WA law Professor Dr Sarah Murray.

WA Attorney General John Quigley during question time at WA Parliament House.
Camera IconWA Attorney General John Quigley. Credit: Danella Bevis/The West Australian

Its 163 recommendations are a blueprint for making WA a fairer, more decent place to live, work, and go to school, having reflected upon many instances in which our Act has fallen behind those in other parts of the country.

For example, currently, in WA an employee who has been sexually harassed at work can only have a successful complaint if they not only establish the advance was unwelcome — but also that they were or would be disadvantaged if they rejected it.

State Parliament’s recent Enough is Enough committee report into the FIFO mining industry rightly identified that sexual harassment in itself should be unlawful, and the outdated “disadvantage test” — which appears nowhere else in Australia — should be consigned to the history books.

We agree.

We will bring a brand new, simplified and user-friendly Equal Opportunity Act to the Parliament next year and while it is yet to be drafted in detail in response to the report, I can confirm that the “disadvantage test” will be gone.

We will also be extending the prohibition against sexual and racial harassment to members of Parliament and Parliament staff, judicial officers and court staff, local government councillors and staff, and unpaid or volunteer workers.

We will strengthen equal opportunity protections for LGBTIQA+ teachers and students in religious schools. Broad exemptions which have allowed religious schools to dismiss teachers simply for being gay will be overhauled. It will be unlawful for any LGBTIQA+ student to be expelled for who they are.

We will be providing anti-discrimination protections to trans, gender-diverse and non-binary Western Australians without the requirement for them to undergo a surgical or medical procedure.

We will protect family and domestic violence victims from discrimination, and will introduce WA’s first State-based civil anti-vilification provisions.

The latter is not about curbing free expression, but ensuring that spiteful, nasty conduct intended to threaten, seriously abuse or severely ridicule others based on personal attributes has no place in today’s society.

The Government will have more to say about these commitments in coming months. Now is the time to reflect on the overarching significance of what will be one of the signature social policy reforms of the McGowan Government.

In crafting their report, the commissioners pored over submissions from almost 1000 respondents from all over the State and country — an overwhelming community response. It was a time for those who may be affected by change — including the religious schools sector — to have their say and be heard.

The commission held a series of online and in-person consultation sessions and released a discussion paper in August 2021 to stimulate debate.

I say to West Australians — this is reform for you, crafted by you to reflect the modern, vibrant, diverse and fair society we all love to live in.

The Government will now go to work on bringing forth a Bill to complete this important work.

John Quigley is WA Attorney-General

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