Regulatory Reform Omnibus Bill 2026

Senator GALLAGHER (Australian Capital Territory—Minister for Finance, Minister for the Public Service, Minister for Women, Minister for Government Services and Manager of Government Business in the Senate) (13:05): No. I think we're going to disagree on this. I think the discretion of the president of the commission to notify relevant individuals where appropriate is a suitable way of managing these issues.

Even if you went to the case that you cited, if you're not the respondent to the matter, you're not going to clear your name through the case, because you're not actually subject; you're not a party to the case. I guess you could go and think about some other action that you might take to clear your name, but the complaint that the Human Rights Commission is dealing with is not the appropriate case for that to happen.

I completely understand the point you're making, but what we're trying to deal with here is that, though it's mandatory to tell you that you've been named—by the way, you face no liabilities, you're not a respondent to the case, and you probably won't be involved in the case in any way—in the paperwork, it causes unnecessary stress and potential costs to those individuals.