Kate Emery: Is this the biggest To Do list in WA politics?

If Tony Buti has plans to catch up on the new season of White Lotus, get in a spot of gardening or squeeze in another marathon, he’d better make it snappy. Because WA’s new Attorney-General isn’t going to have much free time for long. Mr Buti may be used to a busy schedule, as the former Education Minister as well as a father and husband. But with his new gig he has inherited a to-do list longer than one of those marathons he will insist on running. That list includes an overhaul of the Equal Opportunity Act that would ban religious schools from discriminating against gay teachers, a ban on conversion therapy, inclusive surrogacy laws and a major shake-up of the State’s Evidence Act. Even the stuff that sounds boring — no offence to the proposed new Coroner’s Act but come on — is pretty significant. Complicating the picture, some of the planned legislation aimed at making life fairer for gay West Australians will be coming to Parliament at a time when LGBTQI rights are under attack in the US. Will some conservative politicians be keen to capitalise on the global vibe shift by similarly targeting this vulnerable minority? You might as well as if the sun will rise in the east tomorrow. Evidence Act A major shake-up of WA’s Evidence Act could be the first cab off the rank for Mr Buti, given work on it is well advanced. Planned changes would allow domestic violence victims to give evidence straight to police officers’ body cameras or phones and prohibit judges from warning juries that evidence from a victim who took a long time to make a complaint should be treated with scepticism. Yes, that is a thing that happens. The reforms have far broader implications beyond domestic violence but it’s the DV components that will make headlines. Equal Opportunity Act Perhaps the most significant item clogging up Mr Buti’s in-tray is an overhaul of the State’s 40-year-old Equal Opportunity Act, which was delayed at least in part to avoid turning gay rights into an election issue. Gay West Australians have already experienced the delights of having their rights put to a popular vote: it was called the same-sex marriage postal vote and, while the outcome was great, the experience sucked for many in the LGBTQI community. One of the more controversial planned changes to the Act — controversial for religious leaders, anyway — will by a push to ban religious schools from discriminating against gay teachers. The so-called “disadvantage test” for workplace sexual harassment victims will also be removed. Currently, victims have to prove not just that harassment happened but that they were disadvantaged as a result of brushing off/fending off/flipping off Brian from sales. Coercive Control If you’ve seen the WA Government’s advertising campaign calling out the dangers of coercive control, you might walk away thinking it’s already been criminalised. But no, that job will fall to Mr Buti. Coercive control is a form of domestic abuse that’s both dangerous and, let’s be real, gross, that may not include physical violence but involves an ongoing pattern of behaviour intended to control or dominate another person. It’s already been criminalised in NSW and Queensland and WA is overdue to get in line. Surrogacy Laws WA is the only State with surrogacy laws that essentially ban gay male couples from using a willing surrogate and WA Premier Roger Cook has previously promised to “swiftly” bring legislation to Parliament if re-elected. Misty Farquhar, chief executive of WA’s peak LGBTQI body, Rainbow Futures, is optimistic the surrogacy changes could happen quickly. “As far as I understand it’s all ready to go,” they told this columnist. However, it’s unclear whether this will wind up on Mr Buti’s desk or fall under the responsibility of the new Health Minister Meredith Hammat. Mr Buti may yet get to catch up on his Netflix queue after all. Conversion Therapy Much like surrogacy laws, the plan to ban conversion therapy arguably straddles Ms Hammat and Mr Buti’s porfolios. Either way, LGBTQI advocates will be watching closely to see if the final legislation includes a civil response scheme for those cases where a survivor might not want to go through criminal proceedings or the case might not reach the criminal threshold. Judicial Commission Plans for an independent watchdog to handle complaints against rogue judges have been backed by WA’s most senior judge, Chief Justice Peter Quinlan SC and work drafting the bill started last year. Guardian and Administration It may be deeply unsexy — and so has received little attention — but the planned modernisation of WA’s guardianship and administration laws could have big implications for the State’s ageing population and future dementia sufferers. One likely outcome is to adopt a supported decision-making model, meaning vulnerable people who aren’t entirely ga-ga but not 100 per cent either wouldn’t necessarily have to cede power over their health and finances immediately but could have someone appointed to help them make decisions while they’ve still got some decision-making capacity. Sexual Consent Work on new sexual consent laws for the State is in its early days but the WA Government has expressed in-principle support to legislate affirmative consent — one of 134 recommendations from the WA’s Law Reform Commission. Coroner’s Act WA’s coronial system has been plagued by backlogs. A proposed new Act would likely strengthen the power of the Coroner’s office and get faster answers for those who are desperate for them. Boring? A bit. But only because nobody wants to think about the coroner’s court until the day that they need it.

Kate Emery: Is this the biggest To Do list in WA politics?

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