The WA Government has introduced a bill to modernise Western Australia’s Equal Opportunity Act, so more Western Australians are better protected from discrimination, harassment and vilification.
The Equal Opportunity Bill 2026 (Bill) replaces the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (WA) and will be the most significant reform to the state’s anti-discrimination framework in almost half a century. It brings Western Australia into line with other Australian jurisdictions.
The Bill will widen who is protected from discrimination, and for the first time, allows complaints to be made to the Equal Opportunity Commissioner about vilification based on race, religion, sexuality, gender identity, sex, innate variation in sex characteristics, or disability.
The measures will support safer and more inclusive communities, providing a clear recourse for those that may be targeted with hatred, threats or serious abuse, including for example, those targeted due to antisemitism or Islamophobia.
Organisations will be required to take reasonable steps to prevent discrimination, harassment and vilification in workplaces, schools and with the provision of accommodation, goods and services – based on the size and available resources of the organisation.
A full copy of the Bill can be found on the Parliament of Western Australia website:
Protecting community groups
The Equal Opportunity Bill 2026 (Bill) replaces the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (WA). This includes expanded discrimination protections for the community.
You can learn more about these protections and exemptions, through downloadable information sheets below.
Cultural groups
The Bill will extend additional protections to the multicultural community and will make Western Australia more harmonious and inclusive, with equal opportunities for all.
Persons with disabilities
The Bill will adopt a broad, modern definition of disability and makes it unlawful to discriminate on the basis of disability in a wider range of areas of life.
LGBTIQA+ community
The Bill will strengthen protections for LGBTIQA+ people by expanding the attributes covered, clarifying rights in key areas of public life, and improving safeguards against discrimination, harassment and vilification.
Religious bodies
The Bill will introduce definitions of religious conviction and religious body to provide greater clarity about the scope of protections against discrimination and vilification.
It will continue to allow for religious bodies to act in accordance with their doctrines, beliefs, and principles, even where those actions would otherwise be discriminatory, in defined circumstances.
Religious educational institutions
The Bill will protect against discrimination on the basis of a broader range of attributes, as recommended by the Law Reform Commission. It will continue to allow religious schools to maintain their religious character, even where its actions would otherwise be discriminatory, in defined circumstances.
Trade unions and worker advocacy groups
The Bill will retain core discrimination and harassment protections, and expands who is protected, what is covered, and how employers are held accountable.
Women's interests
The Bill will retain core discrimination and harassment protections and will protect against a broader range of attributes relevant to women.
More information about the Bill
A set of information sheets are available to provide an overview of some updated parts of the Bill, including key changes and what they mean in practice. You can learn more by downloading each of these information sheets below.
Civil vilification
The Bill will introduce civil vilification laws in WA. Civil vilification is public conduct that expresses and incites hatred, serious contempt, severe ridicule, threats or serious abuse against a person; or threatens or seriously abuses a person or group because of a protected attribute. These include disability, gender identity, innate variation in sex characteristics, religious conviction, sex or sexual orientation.
Lawful sexual activity
The Bill will make it unlawful to discriminate against a person because they engage in lawful sexual activity, or do not (or refuse to) engage in lawful sexual activity.
The general rule is subject to exemptions in relation to accommodation and working with children and vulnerable people.
Parliamentary privilege
The Bill will prohibit discrimination and racial, sexual and sex-based harassment by members of Parliament in the context of workplace-type relationships, subject to parliamentary privilege and the right of Parliament to regulate its own proceedings.
Sex and gender identity
Sex and gender identity will be protected attributes in the Bill as they are across other jurisdictions. More information is provided as to the definition of sex and gender identity in relation to the Bill.
Sports exemptions
The Bill will make it unlawful to discriminate in sport by excluding someone from a sporting activity or from administrative, coaching or refereeing roles associated with sport. This general rule is subject to exemptions relating to age, sex, gender identity and disability that may apply in certain circumstances.
Written laws and programs
The Bill will make it unlawful to discriminate against a person in the performance of any function under, or for the purposes of, the law or State program.
There will be a two-year transition period to review and determine any necessary exemptions through submission to the Commissioner.
Other exemptions are also set out in the Bill relating to conduct complying with a court or tribunal order, discrimination against a non-citizen where authorised by a State program, an assessment of application for adoption under the Adoption Act 1994 and anything done under the Prisons Act 1981 or Young Offenders Act 1994 for the operation of or welfare or safety of persons at a prison or detention centre.
