Examples of indirect discrimination could include any workplace policy which puts certain ethnicities at a disadvantage, such as banning any head covering, using English language skills as a redundancy selection criteria, or requiring all staff to work over Sabbath days.
For example, it may be direct discrimination if a real estate agent told an Aboriginal person that they have no properties for rent but told a Caucasian person that they do.
For example, if an employer requires that all employees start work at 7am, this may disadvantage all women who care for young children. This is called indirect discrimination because it discriminates against all women who care for young children and not just a particular woman.
Indirect discrimination happens when something applies to everyone in the same way but affects some people unfairly. For example, if everyone had to climb up a flight of stairs to get to an after school club, this would discriminate against children who couldn't do that because of disability.
This is known as 'indirect discrimination'. For Example: A policy that says only full-time workers will be promoted could discriminate against women who are more likely to work part-time to accommodate their family responsibilities.
In 2020, the General Social Survey (GSS) found that 13.3% of people aged 18 years and over experienced some form of discrimination in the previous 12 months.
You can make a complaint no matter where you live in Australia. If you are not sure if you can make a complaint about something, you can contact the Commission's National Information Service by phone on 1300 656 419 or by email to infoservice@humanrights.au.
Report discrimination to a local Fair Employment Practices Agency (FEPA). If the discrimination breaks both a state and federal law, the FEPA will also send your complaint to the EEOC. Use the EEOC's directory of field offices to find the FEPA near you.
The Equal Status Acts 2000-2018 ('the Acts') prohibit discrimination in the provision of goods and services, accommodation and education. They cover the nine grounds of gender, marital status, family status, age, disability, sexual orientation, race, religion, and membership of the Traveller community.