4. Discrimination law reform 4.3 The reform agenda for federal discrimination laws (a) Objectives The Commission’s reform agenda for federal discrimination laws proposes that these laws should meet the following objectives. They should be: • Clear: Any legislation must be readily understandable by the community, and avoid unnecessary complexity. • Consistent: Key definitions should be consistent across different grounds of discrimination, unless there is a distinct or unique aspect to one ground that must be accounted for. • Comprehensive: Discrimination laws should be comprehensive in their coverage by protecting all individuals and communities. • Intersectional: Protections for different attributes must be able to work together easily – having different tests for different attributes (such that a person has different elements of proof) and having to litigate discrimination in relation to each attribute separately is burdensome and less effective. • Trusted: The community should have confidence in the laws as a reliable means by which discrimination can be prevented and remedied. Any reform to discrimination laws should also improve protection across the community. It should not involve creating new forms of discrimination against any sector of society. (b) Four pillars of reform The Commission sets out 4 integrated areas of reforms that are required to improve the effectiveness of federal discrimination laws, namely: 1. Building a preventative culture 2. Modernising the regulatory framework 3. Enhancing access to justice 4. Improving the practical operation of the laws. • Remedial: Where someone has experienced unlawful discrimination, there should be effective remedies for breaches of their rights. • Accessible: Discrimination laws provide remedial support to people in vulnerable situations – the operation of these laws should aid access to justice rather than creating barriers to such access. Major Reform 1: Building a preventative culture • Preventative: While discrimination laws are currently largely remedial in focus, greater consideration should be given to mechanisms that require law and policy makers to prevent discrimination and promote equality of treatment and equal opportunity as the ultimate goals. • Predictable: There has been a limited number of cases that have made their way to the federal courts over the past twenty years. While this points to the success of the conciliation process to informally resolve matters, it has left a dearth of knowledge about key elements of these laws. A lack of precedent is a major inhibiting factor to the effective operation of federal discrimination laws, and the need for different options to provide non-judicial guidance. Major Reform 4: Improving the practical operation of laws Major Reform 2: Modernising the regulatory framework Major Reform 3: Enhancing access to justice Across these 4 pillars, the Commission identifies 38 actions for reform of federal discrimination laws. These are summarised in Figure 9. FREE & EQUAL: Revitalising Australia’s Commitment to Human Rights 79