Submission on the Respect at Work and Other Matters Amendment Bill 2024
Executive Summary
- Freedom of religion and freedom of speech have been recognised as fundamental human rights at least since the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These rights are articulated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Queensland Human Rights Act 2019
- There are a number of elements to the Respect at Work and Other Matters Amendment Bill 2024 that risk significant impact on religious communities and the freedoms of speech and religion.
- These concerns all arise from sections of the legislation that go beyond the terms and recommendations of the original Respect@Work report, and introduce novel concepts.
- In the case of ss 124C and 124D the term “hateful” is introduced, which is not raised in the Respect@Work report, nor is it defined in the legislation. Much religious teaching can be interpreted as “hateful” by those who disagree. These sections also lack the usual protection of “religious” speech (along with academic, artistic, scientific, etc), which provide the balancing of religious freedom found in similar legislation in other jurisdictions.
- Sections 120 and 131 introduce an overly broad definition of “the basis of sex” which goes beyond the intention of the report. Coupled with the low bar of offence, this risks encompassing legitimate beliefs and debate about the nature of sex and gender. The “positive duty” then risks forcing faith-based institutions to abandon their beliefs, or teach against them, in order to prevent the possibility of this low bar of “harassment”.
- Equally, s 124E prohibits creating a “work environment that is hostile on the basis of sex”. Coupled with the broad definition of “basis of sex”, this risks encompassing faith-based work places (including churches, mosques, synagogues and temples) operating according to their beliefs on sex, gender and sexuality.
- Ironically, these problems would increase the harassment for people of faith – opening up individuals and faith groups to complaints, as well as violating the human rights of freedom of religion and speech.
- These problems have all been created by the interaction of minor changes to the legislation with each other. Accordingly, they are easily remedied with small adjustments that would not impact on the original purpose of the bill – implementing the Respect@Work recommendations.
