Age Discrimination Legislation Amendment Act 2010 (the Act) that came into
effect on 29 July 2011. The Act primarily changes the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 by extending
protections relating to sexual harassment, family responsibilities and
breastfeeding. Further, the Act also makes changes to the Age Discrimination
Act 2004 including establishing a stand-alone Age Discrimination Commissioner
in the Australian Human Rights Commission.
The Act make four main changes to the previous legislation:
1.
Protects family responsibilities from discrimination
Under the original Act, discrimination on the
grounds of a person's family responsibilities was limited to situations where
an individual suffers discrimination through the termination of their employment.
However, when the Act came into effect it effectively extended the scope of
this protection by prohibiting direct discrimination on the basis of family
responsibilities for both men and women in all areas of employment.
2.
Protects Breastfeeding mothers from discrimination
The Act establishes breastfeeding as a
separate stand-alone ground of discrimination. Therefore it is discriminatory to
impose, or propose to impose, a condition, requirement or practice that has, or
is likely to have, the effect of disadvantaging women who are
breastfeeding. Importantly, breastfeeding is defined in the
Act to include the act of expressing milk, single acts of breastfeeding, and
breastfeeding over a period of time.
3.
Offers Greater protection from sexual harassment
Under the original legislation, sexual
harassment was taken to have occurred if a reasonable person 'would have anticipated'
that the person being harassed would be offended, humiliated or intimidated by the
unwelcome sexual conduct. The New Act broadens this test so that a
reasonable person only needs to anticipate 'the possibility' that the person
harassed would be offended, humiliated or intimidated for the conduct to
contravene the Act. The Act also makes
it unlawful to be sexually harassed by customers and clients of your business.
4.
The establishment of an age discrimination commissioner
The Act includes a provision that a
stand-alone Age Discrimination Commissioner must be established in the
Australian Human Rights Commission. The Age Discrimination Commissioner will
address age discrimination by educating the community about discrimination and
combating the attitudes and stereotypes which can contribute to discrimination
on the basis of age.
So what must you do
to ensure your business complies? Here are a few things you can do:
· Ensure your policies and procedures address both
sex discrimination and age discrimination proactively;
· Treat an employee who has family
responsibilities equally to how you would treat someone who does not have
family responsibilities, this is regardless of the sex of the employee
· ensure your staff are aware of their
responsibilities to ensure compliance with these new laws; and
· Your business must not directly (or indirectly)
discriminate against a employee who is breastfeeding. An example of direct
discrimination would include not promoting a prospective employee because she
is breastfeeding. Indirect discrimination would occur you did not provide suitable
breaks and place during the working day that in effect prevents a breastfeeding
female employee from expressing milk at work.
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