Page 3893 - Week 13 - Thursday, 17 October 1991
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benefit or detriment likely to accrue or be suffered by all the people concerned, the nature of the person's impairment, and the financial circumstances and estimated expenditure required to be made by the person claiming unjustifiable hardship.
I believe that this standard is a fair one and that it will offer real protection from discrimination for people with impairments by requiring that reasonable accommodation be made, while at the same time recognising the rights of all the parties involved. The provisions dealing with discrimination on the ground of impairment involve some of the most complex issues in the Bill and will certainly be kept under review. A number of very constructive submissions from interested groups and individuals were received suggesting alternative approaches in this field, and we will continue to work on and develop our policy in light of these suggestions.
Part V of the Bill deals with sexual harassment and is another area in which the ACT legislation will offer protection far beyond that provided by equivalent legislation in the other Australian jurisdictions. The sexual harassment provisions have been extended to cover access to premises and club membership and to deal with harassment of students and staff by students. These were all identified as specific problem areas in submissions from the community.
The definition of sexual harassment in the Bill eliminates the standard requirement that the complainant must be disadvantaged or believe, on reasonable grounds, that he or she will be disadvantaged by a rejection of the unwelcome sexual conduct. Instead, the Bill adopts the definition from the South Australian Equal Opportunity Act, that the complainant need show only that he or she was offended, humiliated or intimidated by the behaviour in question and that it was reasonable to feel that way.
I expect that the educative role of the ACT Human Rights Commissioner will play a significant part in eliminating unlawful discrimination and sexual harassment in the areas covered by the Bill. However, I recognise that a mechanism for hearing and resolving complaints of discrimination is a necessary adjunct to legislation of this kind.
Part VII of the Bill sets out the procedure for lodging a complaint of discrimination with the ACT Human Rights Commissioner and the process for handling those complaints. A person who believes that he or she has suffered discrimination or - with the authority of the commissioner or the complainant - the person's agent may lodge a complaint. An agent might be another person or an organisation, for example, a trade union.
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