This book provides an introduction to Australian anti-discrimination law in its conceptual and social context. Our aim is to give a clear and accessible introduction to the law's important features, contradictions and challenges based on the ideas underlying and implicit in it, to provide a foundation for critical assessment of the law's strengths and limitations. While anti-discrimination laws are the core of the book, our concern is broader than just laws that prohibit and remedy discrimination. We refer to the field as ‘equality and discrimination law’ because it now includes laws and practices that seek to prevent discrimination occurring, and that challenge discrimination at a structural or systemic level as well as at an individual level, seeking to change norms and practices to be more inclusive of people who have faced barriers to participation because of their attributes.
Anti-discrimination law is not the only area of law which seeks to reduce disadvantage and inequality. Labour law, social welfare law and taxation law, for example, play important roles in reducing inequality. Anti-discrimination law, however, is the main legal avenue for individuals to challenge inequalities based on protected attributes such as race, sex, sexuality, disability, age, religion and political belief.
There is wide agreement that equality of some kind is a centrally important value and goal in a democratic society. But to prohibit discrimination by law requires very specific definition of exactly what is not permitted, and this is where disagreements frequently arise. People might have very different opinions about what equality is in any particular situation and what it requires in terms of changing social practices. People whose actions are likely to be restricted by anti-discrimination law can find it burdensome, and may object to the way it can limit freedom they previously had.
Australia has had anti-discrimination laws for over four decades. They apply to a very wide range of activities, including employment, education, service provision, sport, the supply of goods and accommodation, as well as many government activities and the activities of some clubs and voluntary associations. It is prohibited to discriminate based on or because of a wide range of attributes including sex, race, disability, age, sexuality, gender identity, parental and carer responsibilities, and political or religious beliefs.