{"id":"F2019L01188","name":"Australian Human Rights Commission Regulations 2019","slug":"australian-human-rights-commission-regulations-2019","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":440227,"registerId":"F2019L01188-fast-fetch-1775955934665","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Australian Human Rights Commission Regulations 2019","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nAustralian Human Rights Commission Regulations 2019\n\nI, General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd), Governor‑General of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, make the following regulations.\n\nDated 05 September 2019\n\nDavid Hurley\n\nGovernor‑General\n\nBy His Excellency’s Command\n\nChristian Porter\n\nAttorney‑General\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n1 Name\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Authority\n\n4 Schedules\n\n5 Definitions\n\nPart 2—Declared discrimination\n\n6 Other distinctions, exclusions or preferences that constitute discrimination\n\nPart 3—Application and transitional provisions\n\n7 Application of discrimination grounds\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nAustralian Human Rights Commission Regulations 1989\n\n \n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Australian Human Rights Commission Regulations 2019.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this instrument 1 October 2019. 1 October 2019\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986.\n\n4  Schedules\n\n  Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.\n\n5  Definitions\n\n  In this instrument:\n\nAct means the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986.\n\ndisability has the same meaning as in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.\n\nmarital or relationship status has the same meaning as in the Sex Discrimination Act 1984.\n\nPart 2—Declared discrimination\n\n \n\n6  Other distinctions, exclusions or preferences that constitute discrimination\n\n  For the purposes of subparagraph (b)(ii) of the definition of discrimination in subsection 3(1) of the Act, the following are declared to constitute discrimination for the purposes of the Act:\n\n (a) any distinction, exclusion or preference made on the ground of:\n\n (i) age; or\n\n (ii) a medical record; or\n\n (iii) an irrelevant criminal record; or\n\n (iv) disability; or\n\n (v) marital or relationship status; or\n\n (vi) nationality; or\n\n (vii) sexual orientation; or\n\n (viii) trade union activity;\n\n (b) any distinction, exclusion or preference made on one or more of the grounds specified in subparagraphs (a)(iii) to (viii) which existed in relation to a person but which has ceased to exist in relation to that person;\n\n (c) any distinction, exclusion or preference made on the basis of the imputation to a person of any ground specified in paragraph (a) or (b).\n\nPart 3—Application and transitional provisions\n\n \n\n7  Application of discrimination grounds\n\n (1) Section 6 applies in relation to distinctions, exclusions or preferences made on or after 1 October 2019.\n\n (2) Despite the repeal of the Australian Human Rights Commission Regulations 1989 by Schedule 1 to this instrument, regulation 4 of the Australian Human Rights Commission Regulations 1989 continues to apply on and after 1 October 2019 in relation to distinctions, exclusions or preferences made before that day.\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\n \n\nAustralian Human Rights Commission Regulations 1989\n\n1  The whole of the instrument\n\nRepeal the instrument.\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The regulations maintain the same scope as the original 1989 regulations they replace. Both instruments serve the identical purpose of declaring additional grounds of discrimination for the Australian Human Rights Commission Act. The 2019 version simply modernises the language and updates the specific grounds listed (for example, adding 'sexual orientation' and 'irrelevant criminal record' which reflect contemporary human rights priorities), but does not expand the regulatory scheme beyond its original purpose of specifying discrimination grounds."},"complexity_factors":["Very short instrument — only 7 substantive provisions plus a repeal schedule","Minimal defined terms — only 3 definitions in section 5, two of which simply cross-reference other Acts","Simple structure — three straightforward parts (preliminary, substantive declaration, transitional)","No nested exceptions or conditional logic — section 6 is a flat list of declared grounds","Single cross-reference — only references to the parent Act and two other discrimination Acts for definitions","Clear transitional provision — simple cut-off date (1 October 2019) with preservation of old law for pre-existing matters"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument updates regulations under the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 to modernise and broaden the grounds the Commission can investigate, clarifying protections for complainants and duties for employers and service providers. It explicitly lists attributes (age, medical/irrelevant criminal record, disability, marital status, nationality, sexual orientation, trade‑union activity), and covers past and perceived discrimination. It repeals the 1989 regulations with transitional rules for pre‑1 October 2019 complaints."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"Yes. This instrument repeals the Australian Human Rights Commission Regulations 1989 (Schedule 1) and replaces them by expressly declaring additional grounds and forms of distinction to constitute 'discrimination' under the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (regulation 6). The new rules apply to distinctions, exclusions or preferences made on or after 1 October 2019 (regulation 7(1)), while regulation 7(2) preserves regulation 4 of the 1989 Regulations for conduct before that date."},"complexity_factors":["Cross‑reference to the Act’s definition of 'discrimination' (regulation 6 references subparagraph (b)(ii) of subsection 3(1) of the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986), requiring users to read two instruments together.","Definitions imported from other statutes (regulation 5: 'disability' per Disability Discrimination Act 1992; 'marital or relationship status' per Sex Discrimination Act 1984) increase interpretive dependency on external legislation.","Use of broad, potentially indeterminate phrases without statutory definitions in this instrument (eg. 'medical record', 'an irrelevant criminal record') creates interpretive ambiguity about scope and application (regulation 6).","Inclusion of ceased grounds and imputed grounds (regulation 6(b)–(c)) expands coverage beyond current personal attributes and can complicate factfinding in complaints.","Transitional and repeal mechanics: full repeal of the 1989 Regulations (Schedule 1) coupled with a saved operation of an earlier provision for pre‑commencement conduct (regulation 7(2)) requires temporal mapping of which rules apply to which conduct."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument repeals the 1989 Australian Human Rights Commission Regulations, and from 1 October 2019 explicitly declares that distinctions, exclusions or preferences based on age, medical record, an irrelevant criminal record, disability, marital or relationship status, nationality, sexual orientation, trade‑union activity, ceased grounds and imputed grounds count as discrimination under the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986. It affects individuals and organisations making decisions covered by the Act: decision‑makers must avoid those listed bases, and affected persons gain a clearer statutory basis for complaints; one old regulation is preserved for pre‑1 October 2019 conduct."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/australian-human-rights-commission-regulations-2019","history":"/api/acts/australian-human-rights-commission-regulations-2019/history","analysis":"/api/acts/australian-human-rights-commission-regulations-2019/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/australian-human-rights-commission-regulations-2019/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/australian-human-rights-commission-regulations-2019/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/australian-human-rights-commission-regulations-2019/documents"}}