The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) welcomes the opportunity to provide the Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney-General with analysis of the draft Anti-Discrimination Bill 2024 (“the bill”).
IPA analysis of the draft bill finds it is fundamentally flawed and would be a major and direct assault on the freedom of speech of all Queenslanders. In particular, the analysis finds:
- The bill’s explicit aim of achieving substantive equality is fundamentally incompatible with Australia’s liberal democratic tradition of formal equality before the law.
- The bill undermines basic rule of law principles and would dramatically expand the scope and reduce the standard of unlawful speech in Queensland.
- The bill imposes a vague and ambiguous duty on employers to actively eliminate discrimination, sexual harassment, and vilification, which will have a chilling effect on workers and workplaces.
- The bill blurs the line between church and state by giving the government a greater responsibility for deciding whether religious beliefs and practices are legitimate.
- The bill would be the beginning of the end of religious schooling in Queensland.
On the basis of these findings the IPA recommends the draft Anti-Discrimination Bill not be legislated.
