Resources and training

Disability Discrimination Act 1992

The Act has as its major objectives to:

• eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities
• promote community acceptance of the principle that people with disabilities have the same fundamental rights as all members of the community, and
• ensure as far as practicable that people with disabilities have the same rights to equality before the law as other people in the community.

In addition to its obligations to staff and residents in University accommodation, Flinders University is bound by this Act as an educational institution. The act makes it unlawful for a person who is a staff member of an educational institution to:

• discriminate against a student with a disability on the basis of disability
• harass a student on the basis of disability
• victimise (threaten or treat unfavourably) a student with a disability who has lodged a complaint under anti-discrimination legislation
• discriminate against people because of their association with a student with a disability
• The definition of 'disability' is intentionally broad and includes physical, intellectual, psychiatric, sensory, neurological or learning disabilities. It also covers physical disfigurement and the presence in the body of a disease-causing organism, for example, the HIV virus.  

Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012

This Act has a focus on promoting and improving gender equality and outcomes for both women and men in the workplace. Employers are required to submit annual reports to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.

Racial Discrimination Act 1975

This Act makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person on the grounds of race, colour and national or ethnic origin in the areas of employment, the provision of goods and services, and access to public places, facilities, land, housing and accommodation.

Sex Discrimination Act 1984

This Act is designed to promote equality between men and women, and to eliminate discrimination in areas including employment and education, and sexual harassment in the workplace and in educational institutions. It covers sexual harassment, and discrimination on the grounds of sex, marital status and pregnancy. The Act fulfils the obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, ratified by Australia in 1983.

Age Discrimination Act 2004

This Act helps to ensure that people are not treated less favourably because of their age.

Equal Opportunity Act 1984 - amended 

This Act exists to promote equality of opportunity and to prevent discrimination on the basis of sex, sexuality, marital status, pregnancy, race, physical or intellectual impairment or age in areas including employment, education and the provision of goods and services.

Racial Vilification Act 1996

An Act to prohibit certain conduct involving vilification of people on the ground of race; to amend the Wrongs Act 1936 to provide redress for the victims of racial vilification.