July 1, 2025 – Women’s, disability and LGBTIQ+ groups are calling on the Queensland government to stop blocking the anti-discrimination laws that were due to take effect today.
The state government last month passed legislation that indefinitely paused the most significant overhaul of the state’s anti-discrimination laws in 30 years.
The former Labor government’s Respect at Work Act, due to come into effect on July 1, would have strengthened workplace protections against harassment and discrimination.
It also expanded protections for vulnerable communities to include attributes like victims of domestic violence, people with disability and members of the LGBTIQ+ community.
Equality Australia’s Brisbane-based Legal Director Heather Corkhill:
“The Queensland government has ignored years of extensive consultation and left LGBTIQ+ people across the state vulnerable to discrimination and hate.
“They appear to be listening to fringe ideological voices who want to wind back our rights rather than real people who urgently need legal protections in workplaces, schools and public places.
“The state government committed to consulting further but there has been no progress to date. These reforms were needed yesterday and not years into the future.”
James Farrell, CEO Basic Rights Queensland:
“Every day we support people navigating homelessness, disability discrimination and sexual harassment because there are clear gaps in Queensland’s legal framework that leave people exposed to harm.
“It’s disappointing that the state government is using human rights as a political football. All of us deserve laws that empower us to speak up and enable us to seek redress when our rights are breached.
“We urge the state government to reconsider its position and put people and not politics at the centre of their decision making.”
Co-Convenor of the Queensland Domestic Violence Services Network (QDVSN) and CEO of the Centre for Women & Co, Stacey:
“This government’s decision is deeply disappointing and dangerous. These reforms were set to recognise the very real discrimination and barriers faced by victim-survivors of domestic and family violence.
“Our sector works every day with people who are silenced, excluded and harmed because they are not protected by our current laws. To delay these reforms is to deny safety and justice.”
Immigrant Women Emergency Support Service’s CEO Mitra Khakbaz:
“The women we support, many of them mothers, suffer persistent discrimination as they escape and recover from domestic and sexual violence.
“These women need stronger protections as they navigate the state’s socials systems, trying to find a place to live, a job, medical care or schooling for their children.
“Strengthening anti-discrimination protections is not just a legal necessity but a moral and social imperative that aligns with Queensland’s commitment to human rights, gender equality and the prevention of violence in all forms.”
Matilda Alexander, Chief Executive Officer of Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion (QAI):
“Almost 60 per cent of discrimination complaints are due to disability. The delay to these reforms means people with disability will continue to experience unfair discrimination, hate speech, abuse and harm.
“People with disability have the right to access housing, education and employment so that we can all enjoy inclusive communities.
“The hard work of dialogue between different interest groups has already been done and the state government needs to get out of the way of these vital reforms.”
Media contact: Tara Ravens, 0408 898 154
