Respect@Work: Groundbreaking costs reform for discrimination cases passes Parliament

The Parliament has passed the final piece of legislative reform that fulfils the Albanese Government’s commitment to implement all recommendations of the landmark Respect@Work report.

The Australian Human Rights Commission Amendment (Costs Protection) Bill 2023 implements the Government’s response to Recommendation 25 of the Respect@Work report. With the passage of this legislation, all of the Respect@Work report recommendations have been actioned.

The Bill would prevent a court from ordering an applicant to pay a respondent’s costs in discrimination cases in the Federal Court except in certain limited circumstances.

The Respect@Work report found that applicants are often deterred from proceeding to court with sexual harassment matters because of the risk of having to pay a respondent’s costs. The Bill addresses the barrier to seeking justice that the current regime presents, while balancing the interests of applicants and respondents.

The Bill recognises that not every respondent in an unlawful discrimination proceeding will be well-resourced or have a significant power advantage over an applicant, such as some individuals or small businesses. That is why the Bill provides an exception for successful respondents who do not have a significant power advantage, or financial or other resources, relative to the applicant.

The Bill will also ensure courts are able to order an applicant to pay another party’s costs where the applicant has acted vexatiously or unreasonably.

In this way, the Bill achieves a better balance of the rights and interests of both applicants and respondents than the status quo. It seeks to address the significant barrier costs present for applicants in a way that achieves fairness for both parties.

The Government would like to thank the former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins for her work on the landmark Respect@Work Report, as well as all victim-survivors who came forward to share their stories that informed the report.

This is a Government that listens to women – and acts.