Private contractors who have worked for the federal government could be targeted by Labor’s proposed national integrity commission, the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, has revealed.
Dreyfus on Friday will make clear that “contracted service providers” have been added to the proposed jurisdiction of the federal Icac – an upgrade from Labor’s election policy which appeared to omit the private sector.
The Australian government has handed out billions of dollars of contracts to companies running major programs including offshore processing, Covid surge workforce and testing and employment services.
All contractors could potentially be investigated under the draft circulated by Dreyfus in confidential consultations, although the attorney is likely to face continued calls from the Greens and other transparency stakeholders to broaden the integrity commission’s remit.
“The Albanese Labor government is committed to legislating a national anti-corruption commission by the end of this year,” the attorney general says in a draft speech to be delivered at the Castan Centre for Human Rights on Friday.
“The commission will operate independently from government and will have broad jurisdiction to investigate serious and systemic corruption across the commonwealth public sector, including parliamentarians and staff, public officials and contracted service providers.”
Dreyfus on Friday will also commit that any religious discrimination legislation “must not and will not” come at the expense of others’ rights, a principle that will be controversial and difficult to enact when Labor introduces its bill to parliament.
Before the election, Labor committed to legislate a religious discrimination bill including anti-vilification provisions missing from the Coalition’s bill, but LGBTQI+ stakeholders expressed concern it had not said how it would balance competing rights.
Dreyfus in his speech says that “every Australian has the freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief, or to change a religion or belief, or not to have or adopt a religion or belief”.
“This freedom is absolute,” he says, recommitting to banning discrimination on the grounds of religion.
“I want to be clear, however – these protections must not, and will not, come at the expense of the rights of other Australians. This is not a zero-sum game. We can improve the rights of a particular group of Australians while also keeping protections for others intact. It can be a difficult job, of course, but nothing that is beyond the ability of a good and careful government.”
Dreyfus says Labor “believes that LGBTIQ Australians deserve the same human rights, equality, respect and safety as every other Australian”.
Labor would amend the Sex Discrimination Act to “prohibit schools from discriminating against students because of who they are”, he says.
“Changes can be made to protect all children, while still ensuring that religious schools are able to conduct themselves in accordance with the teachings of their faith.”
Dreyfus says staff in religious schools will be protected “while, at the same time, maintaining the right of religious schools to preference people of their faith in the selection of staff”.
The comments suggest that federal Labor still favours a broad exemption allowing religious schools to discriminate in hiring, unlike the Victorian government, which limits this power to roles for which faith is an inherent requirement, such as principals and religious teachers.
In the speech, Dreyfus will recommit to legislate the recommendations of the Respect at Work report, including a positive duty on employers to stamp out sexual harassment and ban it in the Fair Work Act.
Dreyfus notes the Australian Human Rights Commission is at risk of having its global accreditation downgraded because of the way the Coalition made three appointments without going through an open selection process.
Dreyfus said if the AHRC was downgraded it would cause “considerable domestic and international reputational damage”.
“To address this we will be introducing a bill early in the coming weeks to amend relevant legislation to ensure that all future statutory commissioner appointments to the commission will be made using a merit-based and transparent process.
“The legislative amendments will remove the ability for direct appointments to be made to the commission without a merit-based and publicly advertised process.”
Dreyfus says the Albanese government recognises Indigenous people’s “inalienable right to self-determination; their right to maintain language, cultural lore and practices; and connection to, and custodianship of, their traditional lands, seas and waterways”.
“We are committed to implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full, including recognising First Nations people in the constitution by enshrining a First Nations voice.”
With Labor working behind the scenes for a 2023 referendum on the voice, Dreyfus said its success would require “as much community support as possible” and the government was “focused on building consensus” with Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
“This will include, I hope, productive engagement with the opposition and the cross-bench.”
