One Law For All NSW Submission to Consultation Paper No. 2 of the Law Reform COmmission Review of the Anti-Discrimination Act
In August 2026, the NSW Law Reform Commission released its second consultation paper in relation to its ongoing review of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW), which “focuses on the procedures for enforcing the ADA, including complaint processes, remedies and other options for promoting compliance with the law.” One Law For All NSW made a submission to the Commission in relation to this consultation paper, briefly outlining our concerns with the accessibility of the Act for young people who have been victims of discrimination. You can read our statement below.
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To whom it may concern,
One Law For All NSW is a youth-led advocacy organisation which exists to fight for the protection of young LGBTQ+ people in the NSW private education system. By pushing for vital changes to the Anti-Discrimination Act, we are defending the right to an education safe from discrimination. We are a collective of young LGBTQ+ people and allies with lived experience of discrimination, fighting for the legal protections we are not given.
We expressed in our submission to the first consultation paper in this review how it is vital that young people have the opportunity to make their voices heard on the laws that keep them safe from discrimination and unjust treatment. While this consultation paper does not relate to unlawful conduct under the Act, which is the primary focus of our advocacy, it still provides a vital opportunity to ensure that concerns regarding the accessibility of the Act to young people are properly considered.
Young people (henceforth referring to those under 18) form a demographic which is uniquely vulnerable to discrimination and unjust treatment, being typically unaware of and inexperienced with legal processes and thus less likely to feel confident in seeking a remedy through legal processes. We submit that this vulnerability means that for the protections of the Act to practically apply to young people, there must be specific provisions which support young people in following the legal process by ensuring direct support in making complaints and minimal barriers to entry.
PAD78, submitted by the NSW Advocate for Children and Young People (ACYP) includes the results of a survey of over 600 young people in 2023 to determine how many were “aware of the following places to make formal complaints about discrimination,” the referenced places including Anti-Discrimination NSW and the Australian Human Rights Commission. Of all school students surveyed, 47% were aware of “none of the above,” with 46% of those aged under 18 answering the same. The ACYP concluded that “there is significant room to improve young people’s awareness of formal avenues they can use to report discrimination, particularly for those aged under 18 years.” From the same survey, 69% of young people expressed that they would feel comfortable making a complaint to Anti-Discrimination NSW.
At the core of young people’s low awareness of the proper processes for making a complaint is an inherent sense of alienation from the legal system that many young people may share. We urge the Commission to consider the circumstance of a typical teenaged high-school student who may have experienced discrimination by their school. This student most likely will never have encountered or heard of such bodies as Anti-Discrimination NSW, or heard of the Anti-Discrimination Act and thus would not be aware of the specific protections they may be entitled to or the process for seeking those protections.
One Law For All NSW entirely endorses the ACYP’s recommendations in relation to complaints procedure, including to:
Develop accessible and easy-to-understand information targeted at young people with examples and case studies on how to make a complaint, the complaints process and what their rights are under the Act (Question 39: Assisting parties);
Modernise the complaint process allowing people to make a complaint via an online form, email or chat service, and include young people in the development of the process to ensure it is youth-friendly;
Provide support people to assist young people, and young people with disabilities to make a complaint (Question 39: Assisting parties);
Revise the complaints process to allow a representative to make a formal complaint under the Act (Question 6: Persons personally affected);
Expand Anti-Discrimination NSW’s role to include the ability to undertake inquiries and conduct research to identify and address systemic discrimination.
The implementation of these recommendations will significantly reduce the awareness and technical barriers which prevent young people from seeking justice for discrimination and unfair treatment. The law should protect all people equally, not merely those with the personal capacity to familiarise themselves with archaic legislation and a daunting, self-guided legal process.
We thank the Law Reform Commission for the opportunity to raise these concerns and provide input into the much-needed and long overdue process of reform to the Anti-Discrimination Act.
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