Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

By leave—I move amendments (1) to (8), as circulated in my name, together.

Nobody should be subjected to conduct at work which is offensive, which is intimidating or which is humiliating. When antidiscrimination law is at its most effective no protected characteristic is more important than any other. You should not be subject to a hostile work environment because of your sex. There is wide agreement on that from our entire community, but that is not enough. You should not be subject to a hostile work environment because of your sexuality.

I celebrate the respect at work bill and I commend the government for putting forward this legislation at this time. However, in the noble pursuit of swiftly implementing the remaining findings of the Respect@Work report, this bill is too narrowly focused on sex. Hostile environment provisions and the positive duty to prevent discrimination do not extend to the full range of characteristics protected under the Sex Discrimination Act, including sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, pregnancy or relationship status. In particular, this bill does not provide appropriate protection to LGBTQ people. That is absolutely crucial in our consideration because there's ample evidence that LGBTQ people are particularly vulnerable to hostile environments in the workplace and are particularly vulnerable to the mental health impacts of such environments.

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