Sex, Family and Relationship based Discrimination

SEX, RELATIONSHIP AND PARENTAL STATUS

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	What is this sort of discrimination? When is it against the law? When isn't it against the law? What can I do about this unfair treatment? What happens if I do lodge a complaint with you? What else do I need to know about making a complaint to you? What happens next? What about the employer? What else do I need to know?

What is this sort of discrimination?

The Queensland Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (the Act) says that it can be unlawful to treat people unfairly because of their sex, relationship or parental status. (Relationship status includes same sex de facto partners.) Examples might include: a man being refused entry to a beauty therapist course because he wasn't considered ‘suitable’ as a male: a de facto couple not being able to rent a flat because they weren't married: a woman with children not being considered for promotion to a manager, because the employer thought she would miss too much work caring for the kids.

When is it against the law?

This sort of unfair treatment is against the law when you:

work, including when you apply for jobs
go to school or university
buy things in shops, hotels etc
try to, or use the services of professionals or tradespeople
rent a house or flat, or buy property
apply for credit or a loan
deal with banks, insurance or superannuation companies
try to, or use state or local government services.

There are two types of unfair treatment - direct and indirect discrimination. Direct discrimination is the more obvious one, such as the examples above. Indirect discrimination can happen when a rule or policy seems fair because it applies to everyone equally, but in fact it is unfair to some people because they're less able to comply with it. An example of this might be a company paying a bonus to staff who had worked for them for say, ten years, without a break. This would be unfair to some women, because women are more likely than men to have a break from work to have children.

When isn't it against the law?

Not all treatment which might seem to be unfair is against the law. The Act has exemptions, which are either common sense or special measures to help certain groups, so that there's a level playing field. Examples can include employing only women for jobs which involve body searches of women, offering a course to single parents only, or advertising for a married or de facto couple for a job which includes a house on a rural property.

What can I do about this unfair treatment?

If you think you have been treated unfairly because of your sex, relationship or parental status, there are a few things you can do. You might want to:

talk to the person you think has treated you badly. Often people just need to be made aware of how their behaviour affects others, or sometimes they need to know this can be against the law.
talk to your manager, union rep, contact officer or someone you think can help you, if the unfair treatment happens at work. If your work has a way of dealing with complaints, you might want to think about lodging a complaint with them, and having them deal with it.
ring the Commission and talk to one of our staff. They'll be able to give you an idea about whether your situation is covered by the Act, and can explain how we deal with complaints.

What happens if I do lodge a complaint with you?

The first thing that happens is that your complaint is assessed. For us to do this, you need to give us details about yourself (name, contact information etc), what happened and who else was involved (the person who was unfair to you, as well as anyone else who was there or knows about it), and any other details which might be helpful.

What else do I need to know about making a complaint to you?

the complaint needs to be in writing (letter or complaint form). We can post you a form, or you can copy one from our website on www.adcq.qld.gov.au
you need to lodge the complaint within twelve months of the unfair treatment happening
the complaint can be in any language - we'll use translators if we need to
you can withdraw the complaint at any stage
think about whether you need advice from anyone such as a lawyer, and keep in mind that while our service is free, others might charge you.

What happens next?

If we accept the complaint, it means that you've given us enough information to support your claim that someone has treated you unfairly, and that this may be a breach of our Act. It doesn't mean that we run the case for you, or that we take your side - our role is to help resolve the complaint.

A complaint handler will then deal with your case. This might include some investigation, followed by holding a conciliation meeting of the people involved in the complaint. If you reach a settlement, the complaint will be closed.

If the complaint is not settled at this stage, it might be referred to the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Tribunal. The member hearing the case will make a decision based on the information presented.

What about the employer?

The Act says that a complaint can be lodged against a person as well as the employer, if the complaint involves a work situation. The employer can be held liable for the unlawful actions of their workers unless they can show they have taken reasonable steps to prevent it.

Reasonable steps may include having policy on discrimination and harassment generally, training for all staff, and a process for dealing with complaints if they arise at work.

What else do I need to know?

There's also federal legislation on these issues. This is handled by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in Sydney. Their phone number is 1300 656 419.

We have brochures on other discrimination issues which are available from all our offices or from this website.

There's a library in Brisbane, and information is available from our regional offices.

If you need help with training or information sessions for your workplace or organisation, contact one of our offices to see what we can provide.

This information is intended as a guide only. It is not a substitute for legal advice. For more information contact the Commission on 1300 130 670 statewide or Teletypewriter 1300 130 680 statewide.