Robert McClelland (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the amendments be agreed to.

Can I indicate that I am pleased the Sex and Age Discrimination Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 will be passed by the parliament today. The new law will provide greater protections by prohibiting discrimination on the basis of family responsibilities for both men and women in all areas of employment; establishing breastfeeding as a separate ground of discrimination and allowing measures to protect and to accommodate the needs of breastfeeding mothers; and bringing in new protections for students from sexual harassment, including over the internet or by texting.

One disappointment was the opposition's amendments to the bill in the Senate to remove protections from indirect discrimination on the ground of family responsibilities. We are disappointed that the opposition has moved to limit important protections that would have helped both men and women to better balance work and family responsibilities without fear of potential penalty. Those protections would have complemented similar protections already available at the state and territory level, and it is disappointing that at a federal level the protections will not be as strong. Although the government did not support the opposition's amendments, we will nonetheless support the bill in its amended form.

Despite the opposition's amendments, the bill still contains important protections for men and women against discrimination and those important protections should not be delayed any further. The government are still strongly committed to ensuring working families are properly protected, so we will monitor how these new provisions operate.

As I indicated, the passage of this bill is necessary to establish the position of Age Discrimination Commissioner within the Australian Human Rights Commission. It will be the first time that such a position has been created at a federal level. This position will provide a dedicated advocate for the rights of all Australians and to raise awareness in particular about age discrimination in the community and also obviously in the workplace. Appropriate funding has been provided for this purpose and we are committed to having the new commissioner in place by July of this year. I commend the bill to the House.