Modernising the regulatory framework December 2021 In relation to federal discrimination laws, having a mix of powers that sit at different levels of a regulatory pyramid would aid compliance and increase the effectiveness of laws. Professor Beth Gaze and Associate Professor Belinda Smith argue that Equipping a regulatory agency with a range of powers and allowing courts to order a full range of sanctions would enable the agency to approach the regulatory role responsively, so that compliance could be pursued through the use of lower level powers in a context where more coercive and punitive powers were available if compliance was not forthcoming.35 2.2 The Commission, federal discrimination law and responsive regulation While regulatory agencies in areas like privacy law, competition law and occupational health and safety have a broad range of powers to enforce compliance, ‘successive governments have chosen not to invest the AHRC with equivalent powers’.36 Most of the Commission’s powers sit at the bottom of a regulatory pyramid: at the level of persuasion, including education and training. The Commission is a ‘gatekeeper’,37 most of the Commission’s work comprising complaint handling and education and awareness raising about human rights law and the complaint handling pathways. Figure 3.3: Commission’s existing powers Addressing non-compliance: Some disparate functions, no enforcement Some inquiry functions (no enforcement) Issuance of standards (no enforcement) Publication of action plans Co-regulatory: Limited options Temporary Exemptions Alternative Dispute Resolution Guidelines and Resources Persuasion Training and Education FREE AND EQUAL An Australian Conversation on Human Rights 99