Australian Human Rights Commission Amendment (Costs Protection) Bill 2023 - Report from Federation Chamber - Agree with the bill's main idea
Passed by a small majority
No rebellions 95% attendance
Division last edited 16 days ago by mackay staff
The majority voted in favour of a motion to agree with the main idea of the bill. In parliamentary jargon, they voted to read it for a second time. They will now consider the bill in greater detail.
According to the bills digest (which is a document prepared by the parliamentary library):
The purpose of the Australian Human Rights Commission Amendment (Costs Protection) Bill 2023 is to amend the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (AHRC Act) to insert a cost protection provision to apply to all unlawful discrimination proceedings commenced in the federal courts.
The 2020 Respect@Work Report prepared by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) recommended the insertion of a ‘hard costs neutrality model’ into the AHRC Act where costs can only be ordered against a party as a result of their own actions, to provide certainty for applicants.
The Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Bill 2022 (Respect at Work Bill 2022) originally included provisions to provide that each party will bear their own costs, with discretion given to the courts to depart from this position (the ‘soft costs neutrality model’). These provisions reflected the position put forward by the AHRC in its 2021 Free and Equal Position Paper.
During consideration of the Respect at Work Bill 2022, some stakeholders advocated that the Government adopt an ‘equal access model’ which would prevent a court from ordering an applicant to pay the respondent’s costs except where the applicant had acted vexatiously or unreasonably.
As a result of these concerns, the Government moved amendments to remove the cost provisions from the Respect at Work Bill 2022 and requested the Attorney-General’s Department undertake consultations on which costs model to adopt. Stakeholder submissions received by the Government were mixed, with the AHRC preferring the soft costs neutrality model, while the Law Council of Australia was unable to arrive at a clear position. Other stakeholders, such as the Australian Discrimination Law Experts Group and Australian Council of Trade Unions, supported an equal access model.
The Bill proposes adopting the requirements of the equal access model but adding the ability to award costs against an applicant in circumstances where the respondent has been successful on all grounds, the respondent does not have a significant power advantage over the applicant and the respondent does not have significant financial or other resources, relative to the applicant. Whether these circumstances apply will be left to the courts to determine.
Nobody rebelled against their party.
Party | Votes | |
---|---|---|
Australian Greens (91% turnout) | 10 Yes – 0 No | |
Penny Allman-Payne Queensland | Yes | |
Dorinda Cox WA | Yes | |
Mehreen Faruqi NSW | Yes | |
Sarah Hanson-Young SA | Yes | |
Steph Hodgins-May Victoria | Yes | |
Nick McKim Tasmania | Yes | |
Barbara Pocock SA | Yes | |
David Shoebridge NSW | Yes | |
Larissa Waters Queensland | Yes | |
Peter Whish-Wilson Tasmania | Yes | |
Jordon Steele-John WA | Absent | |
Australian Labor Party (80% turnout) | 20 Yes – 0 No | |
Tim Ayres NSW | Yes | |
Anthony Chisholm Queensland | Yes | |
Raff Ciccone Victoria | Yes | |
Lisa Darmanin Victoria | Yes | |
Don Farrell SA | Yes | |
Katy Gallagher ACT | Yes | |
Varun Ghosh WA | Yes | |
Nita Green Queensland | Yes | |
Karen Grogan SA | Yes | |
Jenny McAllister NSW | Yes | |
Malarndirri McCarthy NT | Yes | |
Deborah O'Neill NSW | Yes | |
Helen Polley Tasmania | Yes | |
Louise Pratt WA | Yes | |
Tony Sheldon NSW | Yes | |
Marielle Smith SA | Yes | |
Glenn Sterle WA | Yes | |
Jana Stewart Victoria | Yes | |
Anne Urquhart Tasmania | Yes | |
Jess Walsh Victoria | Yes | |
Catryna Bilyk Tasmania | Absent | |
Carol Brown Tasmania | Absent | |
Fatima Payman WA | Absent | |
Murray Watt Queensland | Absent | |
Penny Wong SA | Absent | |
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price NT Country Liberal Party | No | |
Andrew McLachlan SA Deputy President | No | |
David Pocock ACT Independent | Yes | |
Lidia Thorpe Victoria Independent | Yes | |
David Van Victoria Independent | Absent | |
Jacqui Lambie Network (100% turnout) | 2 Yes – 0 No | |
Jacqui Lambie Tasmania | Yes | |
Tammy Tyrrell Tasmania | Yes | |
Liberal National Party (50% turnout) | 0 Yes – 1 No | |
Matthew Canavan Queensland | No | |
James McGrath Queensland | Absent | |
Liberal Party (87% turnout) | 0 Yes – 20 No | |
Alex Antic SA | No | |
Wendy Askew Tasmania | No | |
Andrew Bragg NSW | No | |
Slade Brockman WA | No | |
Michaelia Cash WA | No | |
Claire Chandler Tasmania | No | |
Richard Colbeck Tasmania | No | |
Jonathon Duniam Tasmania | No | |
Sarah Henderson Victoria | No | |
Hollie Hughes NSW | No | |
Jane Hume Victoria | No | |
Maria Kovacic NSW | No | |
Kerrynne Liddle SA | No | |
Matt O'Sullivan WA | No | |
Gerard Rennick Queensland | No | |
Linda Reynolds WA | No | |
Anne Ruston SA | No | |
Paul Scarr Queensland | No | |
Dave Sharma NSW | No | |
Dean Smith WA | No | |
Simon Birmingham SA | Absent | |
David Fawcett SA | Absent | |
James Paterson Victoria | Absent | |
National Party (75% turnout) | 0 Yes – 3 No | |
Ross Cadell NSW | No | |
Perin Davey NSW | No | |
Bridget McKenzie Victoria | No | |
Susan McDonald Queensland | Absent | |
Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party (100% turnout) | 0 Yes – 2 No | |
Pauline Hanson Queensland | No | |
Malcolm Roberts Queensland | No | |
Sue Lines WA President | Yes | |
Ralph Babet Victoria United Australia Party | No | |
Totals (84% turnout) | 35 Yes – 29 No |
Turnout is the percentage of members eligible to vote that did vote.