The second National Plan must incorporate adequate funding, specific measures to address violence against women of diverse experiences, and a monitoring and evaluation system for all action plans. Australia must address economic inequality, including addressing women’s unpaid caring work and gendered gaps in wages and retirement savings.87 EQUALITY AND NON-DISCRIMINATION Australia protects against discrimination through multiple inconsistent and overly technical anti-discrimination legislation. Australia’s piecemeal approach does not provide remedies for intersectional discrimination, and creates significant exceptions and barriers to individuals bringing complaints. Australia must enact a comprehensive Equality Act that addresses all prohibited grounds of discrimination, promotes substantive equality and provides effective remedies, including against systemic and intersectional discrimination. Religious discrimination is not currently addressed by standalone federal discrimination law. In 2019 the federal government released a draft Religious Discrimination Bill. The proposed Bill goes far beyond protecting against religious discrimination and provides people and faith-based institutions with a licence to discriminate on religious grounds, including when delivering healthcare. The Bill privileges religious views over patient health needs, and removes existing anti-discrimination protections, including for women, people with disabilities, SOGIESC, and people from minority faiths. Australia must not enact the proposed Religious Discrimination Bill. DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS Queensland and New South Wales have passed anti-protest legislation that unfairly restricts peaceful assembly, and increases penalties for trespass and using lock-on devices during peaceful protests.88 Australia must repeal laws criminalising peaceful protest and recommit to facilitating peaceful protests. Australian Federal Police have raided the homes and workplaces of journalists following public interest reporting on intelligence and defence agencies. 89 New federal laws have expanded the definition of “espionage” to include public interest reporting by journalists and human rights defenders 90 that could bring the country into disrepute internationally. Australia must repeal laws criminalising public interest reporting and strengthen journalist warrant obligations. The Australian Government is prosecuting whistleblowers who disclose public interest matters, most notoriously Witness K and his lawyer, Bernard Collaery. 91 Australia must strengthen existing protections for whistleblowers and enable public disclosure of serious wrongdoing within intelligence and defence agencies. The Australian Government has defunded NGO advocacy work and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representative and advocacy bodies. 92 Charities are being investigated and deregistered for advocacy work in elections and for working with protesters. Australia must recommit funding for and legal protection to the NGO sector and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations for advocacy work.93 9