The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Regulations are to be amended to make it more difficult for employers to reject job applications from people with criminal records.
Announcing the change, Attorney-General, Christian Porter said the amendments will clarify that whilst employers can discriminate on the basis of a ‘relevant criminal record’, they won’t be able to discriminate if the conviction is ‘irrelevant’ to the role being applied for.
Mr Porter said the approach was sensible, giving both employers and prospective employees greater certainty than is provided for in the current regulations.
“Obviously, it’s reasonable for a bank to reject an applicant who has a conviction for embezzlement,” Mr Porter said.
“In such a situation, the conviction is clearly ‘relevant’ to the performance required of a job applicant.
“However, the amendment will make it unlawful for an employer to discriminate on the basis of an ‘irrelevant’ criminal record, consistent with equivalent prohibitions in State and Territory legislation.”
He said the change should provide employers with greater ability to exclude candidates who previously committed a dishonesty offence from positions of employment that could be reasonably characterised as requiring substantial levels of integrity and trust.
“Most Australians wouldn’t say people with a criminal record should be excluded from employment for the rest of their lives,” Mr Porter said.
“Equally, employers need greater clarity about when they can refuse to employ someone who, they reasonably believe, is unsuitable for a particular position because of a criminal conviction.”
The Attorney-General said the current Regulations have a sunset clause which comes into effect on 1 October next year so the planned amendment will be implemented over the coming months along with the outcomes of a broader review of the Regulations.
