Mr WILLIAMS (Attorney-General) (6:15 PM) —I move:

That the bill be now read a second time.

The Human Rights Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 1998 is the result of a detailed examination by the government of the structure and operations of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. The government's examination found that the current structure of the commission is inefficient and top heavy, and does not always operate in the best interests of the entire Australian community.

The bill provides for the reorganisation of the commission's membership, which will comprise a president and three deputy presidents. The commission and its members will have a common responsibility to protect and promote human rights for all Australians. In order to maintain areas of expertise, each deputy president will also have responsibility for particular subject areas. One deputy president will be responsible for human rights and disability, one will be responsible for social justice and race, and one will be responsible for sex discrimination and equal opportunity.

Most importantly, this bill will be the catalyst for a fundamental cultural change in the commission. The bill makes it clear that the new commission's priority will be to educate Australians about human rights and discrimination, and to help them to understand their responsibility, as members of the Australian community, to respect other people's human rights.

The bill also emphasises the commission's role to assist business and the community to avoid discrimination by issuing practical guidelines for that purpose. This refocusing of the commission's functions is reflected in its new name—the Human Rights and Responsibilities Commission.

Consistent with this cultural change, the bill will make the commission's power to intervene in court proceedings which raise human rights issues conditional upon it first obtaining my approval. The bill provides very broad criteria for the granting of my approval, which will enable me to ensure that every intervention by the new commission is in the best interests of the Australian community as a whole.

The bill also separates the Privacy Commissioner from the new Human Rights and Responsibilities Commission by creating a statutory office of the Privacy Commissioner. This provides the Privacy Commissioner with an opportunity to further increase the profile, and thus the effectiveness, of her work in promoting the protection of individual privacy across all sectors.

The bill provides further evidence of this government's commitment to the effective and equitable protection of the human rights of all Australians. I present the explanatory memorandum to the bill.

Debate (on motion by Mr Melham) adjourned.