Anti-discrimination laws set out your rights and responsibilities to
treat people as equals. In South Australia, individuals are protected
under the
Equal Opportunity Act 1984.
Under the Act, it's unlawful for anyone to be treated unfairly because of:
The Act also makes unlawful:
It is unlawful to treat people unfairly in the following areas of public life:
It is unlawful to treat people unfavourably:
- in work or study because they wear dress or adornments or present an
appearance that is required by or is symbolic of their religion
- in customer service because they have a child with them or because they are breast or bottle-feeding a child.
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To help ensure equal opportunity South Australia has the following anti-discrimination laws:
Federal anti-discrimination laws also cover South Australians::
These
laws overlap with South Australian equal opportunity law. The main
difference is in the types of discrimination that are covered.
Federal laws cover the following types of discrimination:
- religion
- medical record
- social origin
- political opinion (in employment only)
- irrelevant criminal record (in employment only)
- trade union activity (in employment only).
Making a complaint
If you think you have been discriminated against on one of these grounds, you can lodge a complaint with the
Australian Human Rights Commission.
For more information on equal opportunity go the South Australian
Equal Opportunity Commission website.