What is discrimination?

1. Discrimination is what occurs when you make a choice on the basis of attributes which are covered in the Anti-Discrimination Act.

2. Discrimination is prohibited at work, the goods and services area (ie. discriminating against our customers) and in the pre-work areas (eg. Interviews).

3. The Anti-Discrimination Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of the following attributes:

1. Sex
2. Marital status
3. Pregnancy
4. Parental status
5. Breastfeeding (only when goods have been purchased or services have been provided eg. whilst travelling on a train)
6. Age
7. Race
8. Impairment
9. Religion
10. Political belief or activity
11. Trade union activity
12. Lawful sexual activity
13. Association with, or relation to, a person identified on the basis of any of the above attributes.

Employees, who claim to be unlawfully discriminated against, must identify at least one of the above 13 areas as reasons for claiming unlawful discrimination.

There are two types of discrimination that everybody must be aware of:

1. Direct Discrimination: This happens when someone or a group is treated unfavourably because they have a particular attribute identified above, (Eg. not choosing a person for a job based upon their sex, race or age)

2. Indirect Discrimination: This happens when a person imposes, or proposes to impose a condition whereby:

(a) A person without this attribute cannot comply or the condition is not reasonable.

(b) A higher proportion of people without the attribute comply / are able to comply.

For Example: In the past, Queensland Rail employees were selected for jobs on the basis of seniority rather than merit. This indirectly discriminated against women who chose to take time off to have / raise their children because on average, more women tend to take time off for this purpose in comparison to men.

3. As a supervisor or manager, you should take steps within your workplace to prevent unlawful discrimination from occurring. This does several things:

(a) It protects QR employees from unlawful discrimination.
(b) It protects QR and you from being liable for unlawful discrimination.
(c) It provides the workforce with different skills, knowledge and experience.

4. Ways supervisors and managers can prevent unlawful discrimination from occurring:

(a) By having a Code of Practice in your workplace (see Code of Practice workbook).
(b) By discussing staff's performance, by providing clear standards, stating what constitutes discrimination and stating what behaviour will not be tolerated.