Sex Discrimination Act 1984 example essay topic

For many decades, women in Australia have been subject to inequality and unfairness in a wide range of areas in employment. They have been discriminated based on gender, marital status, pregnancy and family responsibility. As well as this, many women have faced the most common form of discrimination based on sex - sexual harassment. In the past years, however, the legal system of Australia has redressed the discrimination which women have faced in society through a number of legislative bodies that women may access. According to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 1989, the definition of sexual harassment is any form of unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favours or unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature. This may include unwanted physical contact, sexual advances, sexual comments and crude jokes, offensive body gestures, the display of pornographic material in the workplace, threats of violence, sexual assaults and rape.

Many women have been subject to sexual harassment but have been unable to do anything about it, because of the belief that they may be fired or they may not have enough knowledge or English language skills to file a complaint. Another very common form of discrimination of women in employment is not limited to sexual harassment, but extended to behaviour which is discriminatory in terms of gender in that the discrimination which had occurred is based on the social construction of gender roles and definitions of appropriate behaviour in society. Women who worked in areas which were predominantly male, or held positions of authority in the work place were discriminated against because the positions they held were not harmonious with traditional beliefs about gender roles. In most cases where this has happened, women have been reluctant to complain about sex discrimination in their workplace because of the fear that they may lose their jobs, their poor English speaking skills or their lack of knowledge about the avenues of redress.

In 1984, the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) was introduced for workers who have faced sexual discrimination. This Act protects the majority of employees against sex discrimination. It makes it illegal to discriminate on the ground of sex in all Australian states and territories. Since the passage of this Act, much has been achieved for the equality of women in the workplace, however, sex discrimination is still prevalent within Australian society. The Sex Discrimination Commissioner of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) has wide ranging powers under the SD Act, including: o Dealing with complaints lodged under the SD Act o Conducting public inquiries o Undertaking research and education campaigns to promote the objects of the SD Act o Publishing guidelines for the avoidance of sex discrimination, and o Referring potentially discriminatory industrial awards to the Australian Industrial Relations Commissions. At any stage, if the individual is not satisfied with the way a grievance is dealt with by an employer, they may bring a complaint under the SD Act or State / Territory anti-discrimination legislation.

In some cases, federal or state workplace relations legislation may also provide an avenue of redress for concerns. There have also been amendments and changes to laws regarding sex discrimination to help establish better equality for women in the workplace. For instance, Human Rights Legislation Act 2000 (Cth) now makes the president of HREOC responsible for the complaint handling functions of complaints lodged under the SD Act. If conciliation of the complaint is unsuccessful or the complaint is terminated by the President for other reasons, the person affected by the discrimination may take the matter to the Federal Court of Australia. There have been a number of reviews of the SD Act, including a review undertaken in 1992 by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, the 1992 Review of Permanent Exemptions undertaken by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner and the 1994 Law Reform Commission's equality Before the Law Report. Certain recommendations contained in the Equality Before the Law Report were implemented in the Sex Discrimination Amendment Act 1995 (Cth), but these did not include realizing recommendations relating to the removal of exemptions.

The SD Act contains provisions for the Sex Discrimination Commissioner to undertake research and educational campaigns to promote awareness and adherence to the Act. For example, a major focus of work undertaken by Australia's Sex Discrimination Commissioner and her policy unit in 2000 has focused on pregnancy discrimination. As a result of an increasing number of complaints lodged under the SD Act, in August 1998, the Federal Attorney General asked HREOC to conduct an inquiry into pregnancy and potential pregnancy discrimination in the workplace. Submissions to the National Pregnancy and Work Inquiry also raised the need for women to be able to access paid maternity leave.

Of the 167 countries that ratify CEDAW, 157 provide paid maternity leave. However, Australia is one of only six countries that does not provide paid maternity leave. The Queensland Government has also legislated to enable casual workers who have been employed with the same employer for two years to access maternity leave. The New South Wales Government has a similar bill before parliament. The ICCPR protects the right of equality of women and men before the law. Similar to this legislature is the protection of equal pay for equal work for both women and men.

Whilst pay equity has been a belief behind the Australian industrial relations system since 1969, in reality women, still do not earn as much as men, for a range of interlocking and complex reasons which have their basis in historical factors. Studies show that women have consistently earned less than male employees since male / female pay ratios began to be measured in the late 1960's. Even though women's wages have risen since the 1970's, the narrowing of the gender pay gap has slowed in recent years. Some studies state that women are earning 80% of a male wage, others have the figure at 83% or 84%. As a result of these facts, the Sex Discrimination Commissioner and her policy unit have been involved in working towards reducing the gender pay gap. In 1998 the NSW Industrial Relations Commission conducted an inquiry into pay equity.

HREOC intervened as a party. Women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds face a range of particular sex discrimination issues. The National Pregnancy and Work Inquiry found that these women are particularly vulnerable and less aware of their rights in relation to sex discrimination. To better benefit these poor English-speaking women, the Sex Discrimination Unit has published and distributed a range of pamphlets in various languages to inform women of their rights. In 1986, the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action legislation was passed. Commonly known by the abbreviation EEO, Equal Employment Opportunity is the creation of conditions which allows all workers to have an equal chance to seek and obtain jobs and to advance within them.

EEO requires that employees are chosen, advanced and treated on the basis of their individual talents and capabilities. It aims to eliminate all forms of discrimination in recruitment, selection, training, personnel practices and conditions of employment. In Sydney for example, the EEO's objectives are: o to ensure that every person regardless of his / her membership of a particular group is given a fair and equitable chance to compete for any vacant positions within the City o to eliminate discrimination in general, with particular emphasis on the elimination of racial and sex (gender, marital status, pregnancy, sexual preference) discrimination o to eliminate harassment and intimidation from the workplace and o to eliminate unacceptable personal behaviour from the workplace and from situations which identify the organization. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), more popularly known as the 'Women's Convention', is the only international convention that specifically relates to women's human rights. It is an international treaty directed and enforced by the United Nations. It was adopted by the UN in 1979 and it defines what is meant by "discrimination against women".

Its aim is to set out an agenda for national action to be taken against the discrimination of women. Australia agreed to ratify the convention in 1980 and in doing so, the states committed themselves to undertake a series of measures to end discrimination against women in all forms, including: o incorporating the principle of equality of men and women in their legal system, abolishing all discriminatory laws and adopting appropriate ones prohibiting discrimination against women; o establishing tribunals and other public institutions to ensure the effective protection of women against discrimination; and o ensuring elimination of all acts of discrimination against women by persons, organizations or enterprises. Other human rights treaties relating to women's rights, which Australia ratifies, are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (U DHR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the 1993 Vienna Declaration, produced by the World Conference on Human Rights and the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action. In conclusion, there has been much change in attitude and equality towards women. In the past decades, many different legislative bodies and Acts have been established to protect women of their rights in the workplace. Although the Australian legal system has provided women with these many avenues and law reforms of redress to discrimination, there is still a few barriers which prevent women from using these avenues.

The legal system may better conditions for these women by giving them paid maternity leave and helping women with lack of knowledge of English or the law by issuing them with pamphlets.

Bibliography

o web - Green Left Weekly Home Page., Rupert Dome, 1997 o web - Allan Burns, 2000 o web - (c) City of Sydney, 2001.