AUSTRALIA, December 1 - On 2 December 2021, the Senate referred the Religious Discrimination Bill 2021 [Provisions], the Religious Discrimination (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2021 [Provisions] and the Human Rights Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 [Provisions] to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 4 February 2022. 

The deadline for submissions to this inquiry is 7 January 2022.

The committee may not accept or may not publish material that is not directly relevant to the bills and/or that contains a statement that is deliberately inflammatory, incites hatred or violence, or is likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate.

You should also be aware that if a submission reflects adversely on another party (for example, makes allegations of a serious nature such as incompetence, negligence, corruption or criminal conduct), the committee is generally required to provide that party access to the submission and an opportunity to respond. It is also open to the committee to decline to accept or decline to publish a submission that contains adverse reflections.