Attorney General Nicola Roxon wants the most controversial element of her proposed anti-discrimination laws to be stripped from the bill, in an attempt to allay concerns that it will limit freedom of speech.

Ms Roxon said Thursday that she had asked her department to draft alternative proposals to sections of the bill that raise freedom of speech concerns, including the removal of section 19(2)(b), which extends the definition of discrimination to include behaviour that might "offend".

Attorney General Nicola Roxon. Credit:Andrew Meares

"Officials from the Attorney-General's Department will present these options to the committee at their next hearing for consideration," Ms Roxon said.

"As I have said before, the main objective of this bill is to simplify and consolidate many discrimination laws into one. It has never been the government's intention to restrict free speech.

"In Australia it should always be lawful to be offensive about a person's football team or cooking – but not to deny service to someone because they are a woman or a particular race for example."

The move comes after months of public backlash over the provision, including from quarters expected to wholeheartedly endorse the bill, such as the Australian Human Rights Commission. The commission's president, Gillian Triggs, said the provision went "too far", but last week she urged the lawmakers not to throw out the bill in its entirety because of a few problems.

Other critics include the former NSW chief justice and current ABC chairman, Jim Spigelman, the former High Court judge Ian Callinan, the chair of the NSW Community Relations Commission, Stepan Kerkyasharian, and federal Labor backbencher Kelvin Thomson, who was concerned about the threat the bill posed to comedians and cartoonists.