Launches

Website

On the first day of Disability Action Week, the Commission launched its new, upgraded website. The main focus of the six month process was to ensure the information was accessible to people with a range of disabilities.

As a result, the look of the website is deliberately simple and clean, with emphasis on providing information to users. There are no watermarks on screens, and information is accessible to people using any web browser and any adaptive equipment. Documents on the site conform to the Triple-A level of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

Other features include the options of enlarging the text and `tabbing' round the site rather than having to use a mouse, as well as minimising the use of graphics so information is available to people who don't have `high-end' equipment.

Information is also available in a range of 17 community languages. The number of `hits' per language will be monitored for the next six months, to inform us about further work needed in terms of providing print information in other languages.

The Four Guides

The lush lawn of the Parliamentary Annex was the venue for the launch of the Commission's new publications, which provide useful and practical information for employers, providers of goods and services, accommodation and education. The booklets deal with discrimination issues.

The 80 people who attended were addressed by the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General, Rod Welford, who praised the guides for the quality of the information and the timeliness of the initiative. He also referred to statistics which confirm that these four groups represent the respondent in almost 80% of complaints received by the Commission.

The Commissioner, Karen Walters, described the booklets as the fulfilment of a commitment made three years ago to the main respondent groups. Ms Walters recommended the guides to attendees, and said she hoped the details in the guides might contribute to a reduction in discrimination and in the number of complaints lodged.

Mr Don McKenzie from the Real Estate Institute of Queensland referred to the booklets as `compulsory reading for real estate agents', while Mr Jim Varghese, Director General of the Department of Education and Mr Stephen Nance from Commerce Queensland commended the guides to their sectors as an important contribution to understanding anti-discrimination law.

The booklets are available from the Commission at a cost of $5 each, or $20 for the set of four.

Indigenous Employment Initiative

The launch of a new initiative could provide a blueprint for employers who are interested in employing Indigenous people in a range of jobs.

The Commission co-hosted the launch of the Identified Indigenous Employment Program with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in May, in the grounds of Queensland Museum. Accompanied by Indigenous dancers, singers and food, Commissioner Karen Walters and Minister for the Environment Dean Wells, praised the work done by the Agency and the Commission in reaching agreement about increasing Indigenous representation in employment in the National Parks area.

The agreement, negotiated over a period of almost a year, means that the EPA can recruit Indigenous staff to identified positions without breaching anti-discrimination legislation. Normally, limiting jobs to Indigenous people only, could be discrimination on the basis of race, in the area of employment. However, exemptions under the Act mean that special measures can be applied to disadvantaged groups, to try to ensure a `level playing field'.

The EPA engaged in research, consultations with communities, and detailed analysis of positions in order to support their claim that some jobs could be filled only by Indigenous people. As a result of this extensive work, and after considering all the material, it was the opinion of the Commissioner that exemptions regarding `genuine occupational requirement', `welfare measures' and `equal opportunity measures' could be relied on in these cases.

On the basis of the depth and extent of the work undertaken by the EPA, the Commissioner was prepared to come to an `in principle' understanding with the EPA, that these exemptions could be relied upon for any similar jobs, supported by this level of research.

The Commission has made it clear over the years that it will support any initiative which addresses the severe disadvantage faced by Indigenous people, and that it is of the view that such initiatives do not constitute a breach of the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (the Act).

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