Qld Government hits pause on foreshadowed anti-discrimination changes
In September 2023, the Queensland Government secured passage of legislation designed to strengthen the state’s anti-discrimination protections, in part by imposing a “positive duty” on employers to eliminate sexual harassment and sex discrimination in the workplace. The enhanced laws were due to take effect from 1 July 2025, but implementation has since been paused by the Crisafulli Government pending further consultations.
The Queensland Human Rights Commission (QHRC) explains that the changes which were due to take effect on 1 July 2025 included:
- More Queenslanders being protected from discrimination, with new attributes and updates to existing attribute definitions being introduced.
- A legal requirement for all businesses, organisations and government agencies to proactively prevent discrimination, instead of waiting until complaints or harms have occurred.
- Better recognition of intersectional discrimination, allowing people to make complaints on combined grounds.
- Definitions, concepts and other legal tests to be made easier to understand and apply, with longer timeframes to make complaints to the QHRC.
- More Queenslanders protected from vilification, with more effective responses to harm caused by vilification.
There is currently no date indicated for the commencement of the proposed changes, or confirmation that they will be implemented at all.
Whilst the state-specific “positive duty” obligation has been paused indefinitely for Queensland, employers across Australia remain bound by the “positive duty” obligation imposed at the federal level, which was successfully negotiated early in the first term of the Albanese Government (see our related article). Free resources are available from the Australian Human Rights Commission to assist employers in meeting their “positive duty” obligations.
Changes to work health and safety laws which require Queensland employers to “implement a written sexual harassment prevention plan to protect workers” from 1 March 2025, remain in effect. Employers can access free resources to comply with these obligations from Worksafe Queensland.