2009 THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY FOR THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY (As presented) (Attorney-General) Human Rights Commission Legislation Amendment Bill 2009 Contents Page Part 1 Preliminary 1 Name of Act 2 2 Commencement 2 Part 2 Discrimination Act 1991 3 Legislation amended--pt 2 3 4 Grounds Section 7 (1) (c) 3 5 Section 7 (1) (k) 3 J2008-913 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] Page 6 Unlawful vilification--race, sexuality etc Section 66 (1) (c) 3 7 Serious vilification offence--race, sexuality etc Section 67 (1) (d) (iii) 3 8 Victimisation New section 68 (1) (a) (ia) to (ic) 3 9 New section 68 (3) 4 10 Dictionary, new definitions 4 11 Dictionary, definition of transsexual 6 Part 3 Health Professionals Act 2004 12 Legislation amended--pt 3 7 13 Notice to health professional reported Section 84 (1), new note 2 7 14 Dictionary, definition of report 7 Part 4 Human Rights Commission Act 2005 15 Legislation amended--pt 4 8 16 Commission's obligation to be prompt and efficient Section 45 (2) (e) 8 17 Section 45 (2), examples 9 18 New section 45 (3) (d) 9 19 New section 71A 9 20 Referral of complaints to health profession board Section 92 (1) 10 21 New section 92 (4) to (6) 11 22 New section 100A 12 Part 5 Mental Health (Treatment and Care) Act 1994 23 Legislation amended--pt 5 13 24 Notice of hearing Section 85 (j) 13 contents 2 Human Rights Commission Legislation Amendment Bill 2009 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY FOR THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY (As presented) (Attorney-General) Human Rights Commission Legislation Amendment Bill 2009 A Bill for An Act to amend legislation relating to the Human Rights Commission, and for other purposes The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory enacts as follows: J2008-913 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] Section 1 1 Part 1 Preliminary 2 1 Name of Act 3 This Act is the Human Rights Commission Legislation 4 Amendment Act 2009. 5 2 Commencement 6 This Act commences on the 7th day after its notification day. 7 Note The naming and commencement provisions automatically commence on 8 the notification day (see Legislation Act, s 75 (1)). page 2 Human Rights Commission Legislation Amendment Bill 2009 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] Section 3 1 Part 2 Discrimination Act 1991 2 3 Legislation amended--pt 2 3 This part amends the Discrimination Act 1991. 4 4 Grounds 5 Section 7 (1) (c) 6 substitute 7 (c) gender identity; 8 5 Section 7 (1) (k) 9 substitute 10 (k) industrial activity; 11 6 Unlawful vilification--race, sexuality etc 12 Section 66 (1) (c) 13 substitute 14 (c) gender identity; 15 7 Serious vilification offence--race, sexuality etc 16 Section 67 (1) (d) (iii) 17 substitute 18 (iii) gender identity; 19 8 Victimisation 20 New section 68 (1) (a) (ia) to (ic) 21 insert 22 (ia) made a discrimination complaint; or Human Rights Commission Legislation Amendment Bill page 3 2009 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] Section 9 1 (ib) given information or produced a document or other thing 2 to a person exercising a discrimination function; or 3 (ic) given information, produced a document or thing or 4 answered a question when required to do so under the 5 HRC Act in relation to a discrimination complaint; or 6 9 New section 68 (3) 7 insert 8 (3) In this section: 9 discrimination complaint means a complaint under the HRC Act 10 about an unlawful act under this Act, part 3 (Unlawful 11 discrimination), part 5 (Sexual harassment), section 66 (Unlawful 12 vilification--race, sexuality etc) or this part. 13 discrimination function means a function under the HRC Act in 14 relation to a discrimination complaint. 15 HRC Act means the Human Rights Commission Act 2005. 16 10 Dictionary, new definitions 17 insert 18 gender identity means-- 19 (a) the identification on a genuine basis by a person of one sex as a 20 member of the other sex (whether or not the person is 21 recognised as such)-- 22 (i) by assuming characteristics of the other sex, whether by 23 way of medical intervention, style of dressing or 24 otherwise; or 25 (ii) by living, or seeking to live, as a member of the other 26 sex; or page 4 Human Rights Commission Legislation Amendment Bill 2009 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] Section 10 1 (b) the identification on a genuine basis by a person of 2 indeterminate sex as a member of a particular sex (whether or 3 not the person is recognised as such)-- 4 (i) by assuming characteristics of that sex, whether by way 5 of medical intervention, style of dressing or otherwise; or 6 (ii) by living, or seeking to live, as a member of that sex. 7 industrial activity means any of the following: 8 (a) being or not being a member of, or joining, not joining or 9 refusing to join, an industrial organisation or industrial 10 association; 11 (b) establishing or being involved in establishing an industrial 12 organisation or forming or being involved in forming an 13 industrial association; 14 (c) organising or promoting or proposing to organise or promote a 15 lawful activity on behalf of an industrial organisation or 16 industrial association; 17 (d) encouraging, assisting, participating in or proposing to 18 encourage, assist or participate in a lawful activity organised or 19 promoted by an industrial organisation or industrial 20 association; 21 (e) not participating in or refusing to participate in a lawful 22 activity organised or promoted by an industrial organisation or 23 industrial association; 24 (f) representing or advancing the views, claims or interests of 25 members of an industrial organisation or industrial association. Human Rights Commission Legislation Amendment Bill page 5 2009 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] Section 11 1 industrial association-- 2 (a) means a group of employees or employers formed formally or 3 informally to represent or advance the views, claims or 4 interests of the employees or employers in a particular 5 industry, trade, profession, business or employment; but 6 (b) does not include an industrial organisation. 7 industrial organisation means any of the following that is registered 8 or recognised under the law of the Commonwealth, a State or 9 another Territory: 10 (a) an organisation of employees; 11 (b) an organisation of employers; 12 (c) any other organisation established for the purposes of people 13 who carry on a particular industry, trade, profession, business 14 or employment. 15 11 Dictionary, definition of transsexual 16 omit page 6 Human Rights Commission Legislation Amendment Bill 2009 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] Section 12 1 Part 3 Health Professionals Act 2004 2 12 Legislation amended--pt 3 3 This part amends the Health Professionals Act 2004. 4 13 Notice to health professional reported 5 Section 84 (1), new note 2 6 insert 7 Note 2 In this division, report does not include a complaint made under the 8 Human Rights Commission Act 2005 that is referred to a health 9 profession board by the commission (see dict, def report). 10 14 Dictionary, definition of report 11 substitute 12 report-- 13 (a) means a report under division 9.2; and 14 (b) except in division 9.2--includes a complaint made under the 15 Human Rights Commission Act 2005 that is referred to a health 16 profession board by the commission. Human Rights Commission Legislation Amendment Bill page 7 2009 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] Section 15 1 Part 4 Human Rights Commission 2 Act 2005 3 15 Legislation amended--pt 4 4 This part amends the Human Rights Commission Act 2005. 5 16 Commission's obligation to be prompt and efficient 6 Section 45 (2) (e) 7 substitute 8 (e) tell the complainant, in writing, how consideration of the 9 complaint by the commission is progressing not later than-- 10 (i) 6 weeks after the last time the commission told the 11 complainant, in writing, (by a progress report) about the 12 complaint's progress; or 13 (ii) if the latest progress report includes a statement to the 14 effect that, for stated reasons, a further progress report 15 will not be provided until a stated time or event--the 16 time or the happening of the event stated in the latest 17 progress report; and page 8 Human Rights Commission Legislation Amendment Bill 2009 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] Section 17 1 17 Section 45 (2), examples 2 substitute 3 Examples--par (e) (ii) 4 1 A complainant tells the commission that she is going overseas for 3 months. 5 The commission may tell the complainant that the next progress report will 6 not be given until the complainant returns from overseas and notifies the 7 commission. 8 2 The commission decides that it cannot consider a complaint further until an 9 expert report about the complainant's medical condition is provided. The 10 commission may tell the complainant that the next progress report will not be 11 given until 1 week after the commission receives the expert report. 12 Note An example is part of the Act, is not exhaustive and may extend, but 13 does not limit, the meaning of the provision in which it appears (see 14 Legislation Act, s 126 and s 132). 15 18 New section 45 (3) (d) 16 insert 17 (d) the complainant withdraws the complaint, whether in writing 18 or otherwise, before notice of the complaint has been given to 19 the person complained about. 20 19 New section 71A 21 insert 22 71A Commission may treat person as person complained 23 about 24 (1) This section applies if the commission is considering a complaint, 25 and is satisfied on reasonable grounds that-- 26 (a) the complaint should have been made against someone (the 27 new person) other than the person complained about; or Human Rights Commission Legislation Amendment Bill page 9 2009 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] Section 20 1 (b) the complaint could have been made by the complainant 2 against someone else (also the new person) as well as the 3 person complained about. 4 (2) The commission may, by written notice given to the complainant 5 and the new person, elect to treat the new person as a person 6 complained about in the complaint. 7 (3) If the commission elects to treat the new person as a person 8 complained about in the complaint-- 9 (a) the new person is taken to be a person complained about in the 10 complaint for this Act and related Acts; and 11 (b) the complaint is taken to have been made against the new 12 person at the time the commission elected to treat the new 13 person as a person complained about. 14 (4) Also, the commission must take reasonably practicable steps to 15 ensure that the new person is not disadvantaged only because the 16 commission elected to treat the person as a person complained about 17 in the complaint rather than waiting for a new complaint to be made 18 about the person. 19 20 Referral of complaints to health profession board 20 Section 92 (1) 21 substitute 22 (1) This section applies if-- 23 (a) the commission receives a complaint about a registered health 24 professional; or 25 (b) as part of a complaint about a health service, the commission 26 considers a registered health professional's behaviour. page 10 Human Rights Commission Legislation Amendment Bill 2009 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] Section 21 1 21 New section 92 (4) to (6) 2 insert 3 (4) This section also applies if-- 4 (a) before the commencement day the commission received a 5 complaint; and 6 (b) immediately before the commencement day the complaint had 7 not been closed; and 8 (c) if the complaint had been received on or after the 9 commencement day, the commission would have been required 10 to give a copy of the complaint, and all documents it has or 11 gets relating to the complaint, to the health profession board; 12 and 13 (d) the commission has not given the complaint, or documents, to 14 the board. 15 (5) The commission must give the health profession board a copy of-- 16 (a) the complaint; and 17 (b) all documents it has relating to the complaint. 18 (6) Subsections (4) and (5) and this subsection expire 3 months after the 19 commencement day. Human Rights Commission Legislation Amendment Bill page 11 2009 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] Section 22 1 22 New section 100A 2 insert 3 100A Protection of others from liability 4 Civil proceedings do not lie against a person in relation to loss, 5 damage or injury of any kind suffered by another person as a result 6 of any of the following things done honestly and without 7 recklessness: 8 (a) the making of a complaint; 9 (b) the making of a statement, or the giving of a document or 10 information, for this Act, to a commissioner or a member of 11 staff of the commission. page 12 Human Rights Commission Legislation Amendment Bill 2009 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] Section 23 1 Part 5 Mental Health (Treatment and 2 Care) Act 1994 3 23 Legislation amended--pt 5 4 This part amends the Mental Health (Treatment and Care) Act 1994. 5 24 Notice of hearing 6 Section 85 (j) 7 omit Human Rights Commission Legislation Amendment Bill page 13 2009 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au [Page Break] 1 Presentation speech Presentation speech made in the Legislative Assembly on 2009. 2 Notification Notified under the Legislation Act on 2009. 3 Republications of amended laws For the latest republication of amended laws, see www.legislation.act.gov.au. © Australian Capital Territory 2009 page 14 Human Rights Commission Legislation Amendment Bill 2009 Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel--also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au