Discrimination is any practice that makes distinctions between individuals or groups to disadvantage some and advantage others. People can also be indirectly discriminated against if certain attributes, such as parental status, religion, race or impairment, make them less able or even unable to participate in an activity. Show The Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (the Act) outlines areas where discrimination is prohibited in Queensland. The Queensland Human Rights Commission (QHRC) resolves complaints of discrimination and other contraventions of the Act, and promotes human rights in Queensland. Under Queensland's anti-discrimination laws, employers must offer equal employment opportunities (EEO). This means people are treated on their merits at every stage of their employment – from the recruitment and interview process through to their daily duties, promotion, training and development opportunities, and their resignation, retrenchment or redundancy. The QHRC provides information on a range of types of unfair treatment, including:
If you feel you have been discriminated against, you can make a complaint to the QHRC. Also consider...
Under federal and state laws, it is against the law for employers to discriminate against employees and job applicants or to allow discrimination and harassment to occur within their organisations. In NSW, employers must not treat job applicants and employees unfairly or harass them because of their:
It is also against the law to treat people unfairly or harass them because of the disability, sex, race, age, marital or domestic status, homosexuality, or transgender status of any relative, friend or colleague of a job applicant or employee. Employers, managers and supervisors must treat all their job applicants and employees on the basis of their individual merit and not because of irrelevant personal characteristics. They must also do their best to make sure that their employees are not harassing any other job applicant or employee. In the recruitment process, all jobs (including traineeships and apprenticeships) must generally be open to all people. Once people are in a job, they should be treated fairly in relation to salaries, employment packages, training, promotion, and other workplace benefits. Irrelevant personal characteristics such as age or pregnancy should play no part in their dismissal, retirement or selection for redundancy. Employers should remove barriers that people with disability may face at work. Making these changes is known as reasonable adjustments or workplace adjustments. Examples of adjustments include flexible working hours, remote work options, changes to work premises and specialised hardware, software and equipment. Benefits of following anti-discrimination law
Impacts of not following anti-discrimination law
Legal liabilityIn general, it is against the law for an employer to act in a discriminatory way. Depending on the structure in your organisation, the employer could legally be the individual owner of the business, the partners of a firm, the directors of the company, and so on. When the employer (or someone who is specifically authorised to act on behalf of the employer such as a manager or supervisor) acts in a discriminatory or harassing way, the employer will be legally liable for the discrimination or harassment. The employer is also legally responsible when an employee behaves in a discriminatory or harassing way, unless they can show that they took all reasonable steps to prevent the discrimination or harassment from happening. This is called vicarious liability. You might be able to defend the claim of discrimination or harassment if your organisation can show that it has taken all reasonable steps to prevent discrimination and harassment.
A person belonging to a particular age (for example 32 year olds) or range of ages (for example 18 to 30 year olds). See our advice and guidance on age discrimination.
A person has a disability if she or he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on that person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. See our disability advice and guidance section.
Marriage is a union between a man and a woman or between a same-sex couple. Same-sex couples can also have their relationships legally recognised as 'civil partnerships'. Civil partners must not be treated less favourably than married couples (except where permitted by the Equality Act). See our advice and guidance on marriage and civil partnership discrimination.
Pregnancy is the condition of being pregnant or expecting a baby. Maternity refers to the period after the birth, and is linked to maternity leave in the employment context. In the non-work context, protection against maternity discrimination is for 26 weeks after giving birth, and this includes treating a woman unfavourably because she is breastfeeding. Find out more about our work on pregnancy and maternity in the workplace.
Refers to the protected characteristic of race. It refers to a group of people defined by their race, colour, and nationality (including citizenship) ethnic or national origins. See our advice and guidance on race discrimination.
Religion refers to any religion, including a lack of religion. Belief refers to any religious or philosophical belief and includes a lack of belief. Generally, a belief should affect your life choices or the way you live for it to be included in the definition. See our guidance on religion or belief at work.
Find out more about the Equality Act 2010, which provides the legal framework to tackle disadvantage and discrimination. Last updated: 06 Jul 2021 |
What are some of the characteristics that anti-discrimination legislation protects
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