December 2021 A reform agenda for federal discrimination laws In 2018, an Expert Panel, led by the Hon Philip Ruddock AO, conducted a review into religious freedom in Australia (Ruddock review).70 A key recommendation in that report was that the Commonwealth should amend the Racial Discrimination Act, or enact a Religious Discrimination Act, to render it unlawful to discriminate on the basis of a person’s ‘religious belief or activity’, including on the basis that a person does not hold any religious belief. In doing so, consideration should be given to providing for appropriate exceptions and exemptions, including for religious bodies, religious schools and charities.71 Following upon the Ruddock review, the Government introduced two packages of Exposure Draft laws, including a Religious Discrimination Bill, and other related legislation.72 The Exposure Drafts included some provisions that would address some of the limits in existing discrimination laws. For example, they included a definition of employment that includes volunteer workers and unpaid interns. The Commission supported this in both Exposure Drafts and recommended it be extended to all discrimination laws.73 In some other respects the Exposure Drafts went further even than suggested by the Ruddock review.74 Then, in March 2020, the Commission concluded its national inquiry into workplace sexual harassment in the report, Respect@Work: National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces. The Government responded, indicating that a number of amendments would be introduced in implementation of aspects of this report, and others to be further considered, and legislation amending the Sex Discrimination Act was subsequently passed. For example, one reform removed a long-standing anomalous exemption that prevented State and Territory public servants from making claims of discrimination or harassment under the Sex Discrimination Act. A number of other matters have also been taken up in proposed reforms discussed throughout this position paper.75 However, like other previously recommended reforms, many of the Respect@Work recommendations have not been adopted. The recommendations, the Government’s response, and legislative amendments are considered in Chapter 5, sections 2.2 and 4.6. 38 FREE AND EQUAL An Australian Conversation on Human Rights