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The following federal anti-discrimination laws protect people from discrimination and harassment: ºÚÁÏÇ鱨վ Act 1986 (Cth) Age Discrimination Act 2004 (Cth) Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) Federal discrimination laws prohibit discrimination in different areas of…

Lesbians are protected from discrimination by law. The Sex Discrimination Act makes it unlawful to treat a person less favourably than another person in a similar situation because of her sexual orientation. There are some limited exemptions. Same-sex couples are also protected from discrimination under the definition of ‘marital or relationship status’ in the Act. Example: A company policy…

It is against the law to discriminate against a person because of his or her marital or relationship status. This includes people who are single, married, in a de facto relationship, separated, divorced, widowed or never married. It also includes people in same-sex relationships. There are some limited exemptions. Discrimination happens when a person is treated less favourably than another…

Some organisations include a medical assessment as part of their recruitment process to gather additional information that will be used to select the successful candidate. However, it is important that employers do not discriminate against any candidate when using this information. It is against the law to refuse to employ a person based on information from a medical examination that…

A guide for employers to understand the rights of employees with mental illness.

The ºÚÁÏÇ鱨վ provides a quick guide to Australian discrimination laws, covering federal and state/territory legislation.

How a position is advertised is crucial to attracting the right sort of people for the job. A good advertisement will focus exclusively on the essential skills and abilities needed to do the job. Only refer to personal characteristics, such as age, sex, marital status or race, if they are part of the genuine requirements of the job. A discriminatory advertisement can limit the range of…

Job sharing is a flexible work arrangement where one job is done by more than one person. It can be an option if employees want to work part-time but the job that is available needs to be worked on a full-time basis. Example: One employee works part-time and does the job on Monday and Tuesday and another employee does the same job, also working part-time, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday…

Organisations often have rules regarding the appearance of their employees in the workplace. Employers should ensure that any proposed rules that allow or prohibit jewellery to be worn in the workplace do not amount to discrimination. Rules about wearing jewellery could amount to discrimination if they impose different requirements for different groups of people, such as men and women…

Human rights are based on the principles of dignity, equality and mutual respect. Human rights recognise the inherent value of each person, regardless of their background, where they live, what they look like, what they think or what they believe. People’s human rights are respected when they are treated fairly and have the ability to make genuine choices in their daily lives. The operations…

Identified positions are positions where an employer may identify that a position is to be filled only by a person with a particular attribute. This might mean an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander applicant, a person with a disability, a person of a particular sex or a person of a particular age. Identified positions help people who experience disadvantage to access equal opportunity in …

Indirect discrimination occurs when a seemingly neutral rule or policy disproportionately affects people with specific attributes (e.g. sex, disability). It’s unlawful if based on protected characteristics.