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National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia

National agenda initiatives

As part of the National Agenda the Commonwealth will take a number of initiatives to enhance the equality of all Australians before the law and to protect the rights of individuals so that they are not disadvantaged by prejudice or discrimination based on their racial, cultural or linguistic background.

A number of initiatives elsewhere in the Agenda, including those directed towards improved community relations, will advance this goal. in addition:

The Law Reform Commission, in consultation with the relevant agencies, State and Territory Governments, members of the legal profession and the public, will inquire into laws relating to marriage, parental rights and custody of children; laws relating to contracts including consumer contracts; and laws relating to the creation of offences.

The Commission will consider whether the principles underlying these laws and the mechanisms available for resolving disputes under them are appropriate to a society made up of many ethnic and cultural groups.

  -   The Commission will also consider whether the way in which these laws are expressed inhibits access by members of the public to the law.
  -   The Commission will report progressively on these matters over a three year period.
  • The Administrative Review Council will undertake a major review of Commonwealth administrative decision-making. It will work with government agencies to identify, pilot and trial new ways of administrative decision-making, and in co-operation with review agencies, assess the suitability of procedures for the handling of grievances concerning government decision-making in a multicultural community.
-   The Council will consult with Commonwealth portfolios as well as with community organisations. The project will take place over an eighteen month period.

  • The Attorney-General's Department, in co-operation with the Law Council of Australia, will review legislative and administrative arrangements on access to and provision of interpreters in the judicial system and what needs are being met or are not being met.

  • The Race Discrimination Commissioner is currently conducting an inquiry into racist violence in response to the upsurge of such activity. Depending on the outcome of that inquiry, and in the context of the Government's consideration of the option of a Multiculturalism Act, the Commonwealth will examine whether there is a need to complement current State initiatives by extending the ambit of the Racial Discrimination Act to cover group racial vilification and defamation.

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