**BEHIND THE QUESTION**
New legislation has just passed parliament whereby an employee who takes their employer to court for workplace discrimination or sexual harassment won’t have to cover their boss’ legal costs if they are unsuccessful.
This legislation was recommended by the Australian Human Rights Commission, who found that legal costs were a major barrier to commencing court proceedings against employers. The government and the Greens argued that ‘the laws will not only help workers enforce their rights but also deter misconduct by employers’.
However, not everyone was happy that the legislation got up. The LNP argued that small businesses could end up paying large fees for ‘baseless claims’, and the Law Council of Australia criticised the legislation for ’tilting the balance overly in favour of the applicant’.
**THE QUESTION**
There are clear reasons why this legalisation was put forward, but also understandable concerns. As with most legislation, there are trade-offs, but with that said…
*Do you think this new law will have a net positive or net negative impact on Australian society?*
Source: [https://thedailyaus.com.au/stories/employees-wont-need-to-pay-for-failed-work-discrimination-court-cases/](https://thedailyaus.com.au/stories/employees-wont-need-to-pay-for-failed-work-discrimination-court-cases/)
[View Poll](https://www.reddit.com/poll/1flo9gi)
Source: Voice_Drop
3 Comments
Paying for legal costs is a largely stupid concept anyway.
It only encourages using lawyers that charge grossly excessive amounts.
The downside is the risk of frivolous action, but I think that the number of people who have the time and energy to do that out of spite would be quite small.
This is not particularly unique.
The Fair Work Act already contains a no costs jurisdiction. This bill just extends the no costs jurisdiction to Human Rights Commission matters.
The no costs jurisdiction is subject to the usual exclusions that the applicant should have have commenced the action vexatiously or without reasonable cause or the costs were not incurred due to the applicants unreasonable act or omission. There seems to be a new provision on the relative power and financial position of the parties, which will ensure that the no costs jurisdiction will primarily apply in claims against corporations.
The no costs jurisdiction is an excellent scheme. Especially for skilled self represented litigants.