The Commission continues to encourage the Australian Government to enact religious discrimination protections. The Commission supports legislation that is consistent with the objective of providing protection against discrimination on the ground of religious belief or activity that is equivalent to the protection against discrimination on other grounds such as race, sex, disability and age in existing Commonwealth laws. This would include protection against direct and indirect discrimination on the ground of religious belief or activity in areas of public life covered by other Australian discrimination laws. The Commission has also urged the Australian Government to ensure that protections of religious belief or activity are not codified in a way that limits other human rights in a way that is unnecessary and disproportionate, or in a manner that is otherwise inconsistent with international human rights law. The Commission is ready to consider the appropriateness of the next iteration of a Religious Discrimination Bill. The Commission notes that there remain other outstanding recommendations from the 2018 Religious Freedom Review that warrant action. These include: • the commissioning of prevalence research to understand the experience of freedom of religion at the community level, including the extent of harm experienced on this basis • the development of a religious engagement and public education program about human rights and religion in Australia • consideration of amendments to existing exemptions in discrimination laws nationally, including in the Sex Discrimination Act, relating to schools and also marital status. The Commission notes that the Australian Law Reform Commission is due to report on this latter issue in December 2023, following a national inquiry into religious exemptions under discrimination laws. The Commission also proposes a ground to prevent discrimination based on a person’s irrelevant criminal record. This is one of the grounds of discrimination in the Australian Human Rights Commission Act relating to the Internal Labour Organization Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention (ILO 111), 1958. As the ground is not, currently, ‘unlawful discrimination’, there is no pathway to judicial consideration, or enforceable remedies. And yet, the Commission receives a significant number of complaints on this ground each year and it is an area that has a disproportionate impact on some groups. Other proposed changes would close gaps to make laws more inclusive of volunteers and interns in the workplace, and those with family responsibilities. These modest changes would reflect the realities of the modern world of work. The Commission makes a number of specific proposals in relation to • ensuring discrimination laws protect everyone in the world of work • reforming ILO 111 discrimination as unlawful discrimination • reviewing all permanent exemptions • defining discrimination and related concepts • managing intersectionality. 90 FREE & EQUAL: Revitalising Australia’s Commitment to Human Rights