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Understanding Positive Discrimination, legal measures promoting equality. Learn about special measures to promote equality based on age, sex, race or disability.

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 …

Special measures aim to foster greater equality by supporting groups of people who face, or have faced, entrenched discrimination so they can have similar access to opportunities as others in the community. Special measures are sometimes described as acts of ‘positive discrimination’ or ‘affirmative action’. They are allowed under federal anti-discrimination laws. The Sex Discrimination Act…

Discrimination in employment because of a person’s age or disability is against the law in many circumstances. However, it may not be unlawful to refuse to employ a person if, because of their age or disability, they are unable to carry out the inherent requirements – or essential duties – of the job. The inherent requirements of a job will vary depending on what the job is. They may include…

The following federal anti-discrimination laws protect people from discrimination and harassment: Australian Human Rights Commission 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…

Understanding Direct Discrimination. Learn about unlawful treatment based on protected characteristics.

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…

In some circumstances, employers can require employees and potential employees to meet the physical requirements of a job. However, physical requirements can amount to unlawful discrimination in some circumstances. Discrimination could be against the law if it is linked to a protected attribute, such as a person’s race, age, sex or disability, and the requirement is not reasonable. Example:…

Offering employees flexible working hours, like other flexible work arrangements, is a way to create a productive workplace that is free of discrimination. In some circumstances, a rule that requires all employees to work certain hours can be indirect discrimination as it may have an unfair effect on some groups of people, such as people with disabilities, women who are pregnant or…

Every organisation aims to recruit the best person for the job. That’s why it is important to be able to select from the widest possible range of applicants. Recruitment processes that are discriminatory reduce an employer’s opportunity to find the best person for the job. Employers who are recruiting staff should be aware of their responsibilities under federal anti-discrimination laws…