The review's recommendations were to be partially implemented through reforms to the Anti-Discrimination Act passed by state parliament in September 2024.
On 14 March 2025, the government announced that these reforms will be paused to allow for further consultation.
A new date for their commencement has not yet been confirmed. You can read our statement about the delay on our media page.
The Anti-Discrimination Act plays a central role in protecting and promoting equality in Queensland. This review, which marked the thirtieth anniversary of the Act, provided an opportunity to undertake a holistic re-evaluation of all aspects of our discrimination law.
The review gathered information through 3 key activities:
We aimed to consult widely to ensure that as many people as possible could have input into the future of our discrimination law.
We sought direct input from people who have experienced discrimination and sexual harassment and took steps to proactively engage with people and communities who don’t usually report their experiences.
We established a reference group with 9 key stakeholder streams to identify priority issues and support engagement. These include:
Across the course of the review, we:
We also undertook extensive analysis of Australian and international discrimination and human rights law and academic literature.
The terms of reference were comprehensive and asked us to consider whether there was a need for any reform to enhance and update the Act to best protect and promote equality.
One of the central questions we were asked to consider is whether a more positive approach is required to eliminate discrimination and sexual harassment.
We were asked to look at whether the law:
In the Building Belonging report , we presented reforms to ensure the law is effective in protecting people from discrimination and sexual harassment. We recommended 5 key reforms.
Introduce a new Act to protect and promote the right to equality and eliminate discrimination and sexual harassment to the greatest extent possible.
Ensure the legal tests for discrimination respond effectively to the problems they are seeking to address and are easy to understand and apply.
Promote compliance by shifting the focus to preventing discrimination and sexual harassment before it happens.
Reorientate the dispute resolution process to ensure it is flexible and efficient, and to enhance access to justice.
Ensure all people who require protection under the Act are included, and that coverage of the law extends to all contexts and settings where unfair discrimination occurs, subject to reasonable exceptions.
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