Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wanted to make a contribution on this important legislation, the Australian Human Rights Commission Amendment (Costs Protection) Bill 2023. It's a privilege to speak on a really important piece of law reform that builds on a body of work undertaken by our government to implement the recommendations of the Respect@Work report, a crucial report when it comes to making our workplaces safer and protecting women at work. This bill marks a significant shift in how we protect and encourage workers who stand up for their rights. Sexual harassment is not inevitable. It is not acceptable. It is preventable. Today, with this bill, we take one further step in making that a reality here in Australia.

The Australian Human Rights Commission found that one in three Australian workers have experienced workplace sexual harassment in the last five years. That is a devastating statistic for our country. Yet, as we all know, the Jenkins report sat on a shelf, gathering dust, under the previous government.

This is an important area of law reform. I was very pleased to chair the inquiry into this piece of legislation. I thank my colleagues who participated in that inquiry and all of the submitters and the witnesses that came forward for this and previous iterations of legislation dealing with this topic. It's not easy to come forward and talk about sexual harassment. Women are brave when they do. What this legislation does is protect those survivors of sexual harassment. It seeks to make sure that there is another stepping stone towards justice for these women.

I'm very proud of my background before coming to this parliament, working for a lawyer representing workers, particularly those who had suffered sexual harassment in the workplace. I want to make it clear that we're going to hear throughout this debate many scenarios from those opposite about what may play out. But we know the reality of what women go through when they raise an issue of sexual harassment, how unsafe it makes them at work and how difficult it is for them to seek justice. I have seen this with my own eyes. I have walked women through the steps. I have sat down with them and talked about seeking justice and what their prospects might be. This bill seeks to make sure that the next time a woman in this country suffers sexual harassment at work, where someone like me has the role of talking them through the steps that they need to take to protect themselves, to have their rights upheld and to seek justice, that conversation doesn't end in 'this may be too difficult for you to undertake'—because that's where we are at the moment.

For all the scenarios that we hear put forward by those opposite—and we heard some in the contribution from Senator Cash—none of them are the reality that women in workplaces in Australia are enduring. None of the points the opposition put forward to criticise this bill are cemented in the reality of what women are facing in workplaces and then what they face when they go to the courts and they go through the court process to seek justice. It is an incredibly difficult time for them.

I will have a chance to talk further on this bill, I understand, but I wanted to first of all reiterate that this is about alleviating the risk of adverse costs for applicants in federal unlawful discrimination proceedings. We know from the evidence that was put forward that that is integral to making sure that more people, particularly women, come forward in the first place. We don't want women to think twice about raising a complaint and seeking justice, because of the cost that might be imposed later on through the court process. That is something that this bill seeks to rectify. It is unfinished work that makes our workplaces safer. I'm very pleased that our government is finishing the work of Kate Jenkins and the respect at work bill. I'm thinking tonight about all of the women who have come forward to raise issues of sexual harassment. This bill is for them.

I'm going to continue. The bill proposes adopting an equal access model for unlawful discrimination. The bill would amend the Australian Human Rights Commission Act to ensure that applicants and respondents would bear their own costs in federal unlawful discrimination court proceedings. In those cases—I will talk about this in more depth at another opportunity, hopefully—we've seen time and time again that there are situations where allowing the courts to award costs against an applicant occurs in circumstances—

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Green. You will be in continuation when the debate resumes.

Debate adjourned.