Justice just got more accessible - - Legal costs risks to be reduced for those experiencing workplace discrimination and sexual harassment

The Bill is a breakthrough development for victim-survivor rights to legal justice and delivers on one of the key recommendations of the Respect@Work report. [...] The Australian Human Rights Commission acknowledges that there are already sufficient protections in place that deter unmeritorious complaints, including the power of the Commission to terminate unmeritorious complaints and the fact that complaints terminated on these grounds are only able to proceed to court with the leave of the court. [...] People will now be able to bring claims without the huge risk of having to pay the legal costs of the perpetrator, or the perpetrator’s employer, should they lose. [...] “It is heartening to see the Government listening to both victim-survivors and those organisations that work with the most disadvantaged to design a system that removes barriers to seeking redress from workplace discrimination and sexual harassment.” said Emma Golledge, Kingsford Legal Centre Director. [...] The report found the prevalence of sexual harassment in Australia to be “endemic”, conservatively estimating the cost to the economy at $3.5 billion per year.