Strengthening protections for Victorians under the Equal Opportunity Act

The Equal Opportunity Act does not adequately protect volunteers

Volunteers and unpaid workers make a significant contribution to the Victorian community. While they are protected from sexual harassment, volunteers and unpaid workers are not protected from discrimination under the Equal Opportunity Act. This sends a harmful message that volunteers and unpaid workers are not as valuable as paid employees.

The Equal Opportunity Act does not protect victims/survivors of family violence

Victims/survivors of family violence are vulnerable to discrimination in employment and housing, which may limit a person’s ability to leave a violent relationship, or could result in homelessness if they do. Women, in particular, are more likely to experience family violence and are at greater risk of unfavourable treatment in employment due to the impacts of family violence.

The Equal Opportunity Act does not protect people with irrelevant criminal records from discrimination

Discrimination on the basis of a person’s irrelevant criminal record can have wide-ranging impacts, including reducing employment opportunities, access to housing and other services, entrenching disadvantage and reinforcing marginalisation. Discrimination also holds back people from reintegrating and fully contributing to society, and can compound existing discrimination, for example, discrimination experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The Equal Opportunity Act does not protect homeless people from discrimination

A person’s lack of access to safe and secure housing is often a barrier to full participation in society, including employment, and may limit a person’s access to essential services. This can be compounded by assumptions about a person’s background, character, lifestyle and ability to pay.

Discrimination can be direct (for example, not allowing a person to stay in a hostel who is paying with a charity cheque) or indirect (for example, requiring a person to provide a telephone number or permanent address to access services).

In 2019, one in 57 people in Victoria received homelessness assistance, higher than the national rate (one in 86). Of those seeking assistance 61 per cent were female and 10 per cent identified as Indigenous. This figure is likely to increase significantly due to the medium-term economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis as already vulnerable groups may face additional barriers to employment, services and housing.

The Commission requires stronger powers to enforce LGBTIQ rights

The Commission is currently lacking powers to properly enforce the Equal Opportunity Act 2010, and enforce the positive duty to eliminate discrimination, sexual harassment or victimisation.

The protections under the Equal Opportunity Act should be expanded to adequately cover volunteers and the new attributes of ‘status of victim/survivor of family violence’, ‘irrelevant criminal record’ and ‘homelessness’.

The Commission should be given stronger enforcement powers to enable us to undertake own-motion public inquiries, require people to attend or provide documents or information for the purposes of an inquiry and require organisations to take corrective action that is enforceable at VCAT.

The Commission should be given stronger enforcement powers to enable us to enforce compliance with the law and ensure organisations are taking necessary steps to prevent discrimination against LGBTIQ people.

 

In our submission to the Legislative Committee’s Inquiry into a Legislative Spent Convictions Scheme, we advocated for the addition of ‘irrelevant criminal record’ as a new attribute in the Equal Opportunity Act, alongside the establishment of a spent convictions scheme.

We recently briefed the Attorney-General on these reform priorities and will continue to engage with the government and stakeholders.

 

2015 Submission to the Royal Commission into Family Violence