Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I don't have those figures to hand, Senator Scarr. But it is the case, as I understand it, that the majority of antidiscrimination complaints made to the Human Rights Commission relate to disability discrimination. It is important, though, that the same cost protection model applies across all protected attributes and all areas of public life covered by federal antidiscrimination law. Complaints that raise a number of grounds or raise issues across different antidiscrimination acts proceed together in the Australian Human Rights Commission and in the federal courts. That supports the efficient resolution of complaints. From the government's perspective it would not be practical for these complaints to proceed separately or for different costs regimes to apply under federal discrimination law. This would increase the administrative burden on the Australian Human Rights Commission, which would need to deal with complaints separately. The Australian Human Rights Commission itself has recommended that cost reform be consistent across federal discrimination laws, and that's what the government is proposing with this bill.