The Sex Discrimination Commissioner is an Australian federal government position established to oversee the operation of the '' Sex Discrimination Act 1984''. The position was created alongside the Act as one of the specialist commissioners of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. The commissioner also has an educative role, frequently called upon to comment upon gender issues in the workforce. The role was created with the Act in 1984, with the Hawke government appointing Pam O'Neil, a Labor MLA from the Northern Territory, as the first commissioner. She was replaced in 1988 by Quentin Bryce, who became Australia's first female Governor-General in 2008. The fate of the position appeared unclear in the late 1990s, as Susan Halliday, the then-Commissioner, repeatedly came into conflict with the

Howard Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

Liberal government, despite being a Liberal appointee. Halliday's angry resignation in 2001 led to speculation that the office may be disbanded;

Pru Goward Prudence Jane "Pru" Goward (born 2 September 1952) is a former Australian politician and was a Liberal member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 2007 to 2019, representing the seat of Goulburn. She was the New South Wales Minis ...

, a close personal friend of Howard, was instead appointed as her replacement. Goward resigned in late 2006 in order to run for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, and was replaced in mid-2007 by lawyer

Elizabeth Broderick Elizabeth Broderick is an Australian lawyer, who was the Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner for over eight years from 2007 to 2015 and has been a United Nations special rapporteur for Discrimination against Women and Girls since 2017. ...

, a former partner with

Blake Dawson Ashurst Australia is the Australian branch of Ashurst LLP, an international commercial law firm. The Australian headquarters of Ashurst are in Sydney. Prior to its acquisition by Ashurst, the Australian firm was named Blake Dawson, one of th ...

Reviews by Kate Jenkins

Respect@Work Report

In January 2020, Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins handed to the Morrison government her ''Respect@Work Report'', described by the ABC as “a landmark national inquiry into sexual harassment in workplaces by the Australian Human Rights Commission”. On 8 April 2021, the Morrison government released its response to the report, which it has dubbed
A Roadmap for Respect: Preventing and Addressing Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces
', accepting (either wholly or in principle) or “noted” all 55 recommendations. Though the legislation is still to be prepared, it was indicated that the definition of “serious misconduct” in workplaces will include sexual harassment, which will also be a valid reason for dismissal. Judges and politicians will be subject to the same sexual harassment laws as the wider population. Under human rights laws, the time limit for complaints will be extended from six months to two years.

Review of Parliament House's workplace culture

On 5 March 2021, Jenkins said she will lead a review of Parliament House's workplace culture following the

2021 Australian Parliament House sexual misconduct allegations In February and March 2021, a number of allegations involving rape and other sexual misconduct against women involving the Australian Parliament and federal politicians were raised, causing controversy especially for the federal Liberal-Nationa ...

.Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins to lead review into Parliament House workplace culture
/ref> She is expected to hand down her interim report in July 2021.

List of Sex Discrimination Commissioners

* Pam O'Neil (1984–1988) * Quentin Bryce (1988–1993) *

Sue Walpole Sue or SUE may refer to: Music * Sue Records, an American record label * ''Sue'' (album), an album by Frazier Chorus * "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)", a song by David Bowie Places * Sue Islet (Queensland), one of the Torres Straits island ...

(1993–1997) * Susan Halliday (1998–2001) *

(2001–2006) *

(2007–2015) * Kate Jenkins (2016–present)

References

{{reflist

External sources