Purpose:

The main purpose of this legislation is to re-enact and extend the law relating to equal opportunity and protection against discrimination, sexual harassment, and victimisation.

Objectives:

• To eliminate discrimination, sexual harassment, and victimisation, to the greatest possible extent.
• To further promote and protect the right to equality set out in the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities.
• To encourage the identification and elimination of systemic causes of discrimination, sexual harassment, and victimisation.
• To promote and facilitate the progressive realisation of equality, as far as reasonably practicable, by recognising that discrimination can cause social and economic disadvantage, equal application of a rule can have unequal results, and substantive equality may require reasonable adjustments, accommodation, and special measures.
• To enable the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission to encourage best practice and facilitate compliance by undertaking research, educative, and enforcement functions.
• To enable the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission to resolve disputes about discrimination, sexual harassment, and victimisation in a timely and effective manner, and to provide direct access to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal for resolution of such disputes.

Key Provisions:

• Establishes attributes on the basis of which discrimination is prohibited, including age, breastfeeding, employment activity, gender identity, disability, industrial activity, lawful sexual activity, marital status, parental status or status as a carer, physical features, political belief or activity, pregnancy, race, religious belief or activity, sex, sexual orientation, and expunged homosexual convictions.
• Defines direct and indirect discrimination and specifies that motive is irrelevant to discrimination.
• Imposes a duty on persons to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate discrimination, sexual harassment, and victimisation.
• Prohibits discrimination in various areas including employment, employment-related areas (e.g., firms, industrial organisations, qualifying bodies), education, provision of goods and services, disposal of land, accommodation, clubs, sport, and local government.
• Outlines exceptions to the prohibition of discrimination, including genuine occupational requirements, domestic or personal services, care of children, youth wages, early retirement schemes, and special measures.
• Prohibits sexual harassment by employers, employees, partners in firms, industrial organisations, qualifying bodies, educational institutions, providers of goods/services, providers of accommodation, clubs, and local government councillors.
• Prohibits victimisation, authorising or assisting discrimination, and requesting discriminatory information.
• Establishes vicarious liability for employers and principals for acts of their employees or agents.
• Outlines a dispute resolution process through the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission and applications to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
• Grants the Commission powers to conduct investigations into matters relating to the Act’s operation.
• Allows the Commission to issue practice guidelines, conduct reviews of compliance, and receive action plans.
• Establishes the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, detailing its functions, powers, and governance structure.
• Specifies offences related to discriminatory advertising, obstructing the Commission, and providing false or misleading information.

Evidence of Compliance Requirements For Agricultural Organisations:

• General Duty to Eliminate Unlawful Conduct: Organisations must take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate discrimination, sexual harassment, or victimisation as far as possible (Section 15(2)).

  • Actions: This requires active steps, such as developing and implementing policies and procedures, providing training to staff, and establishing clear complaint management processes.
  • Measurement/Standards: The reasonableness and proportionality of measures are determined by considering the size and nature of the organisation’s business or operations, its resources, business and operational priorities, and the practicability and cost of the measures (Section 15(6)).
  • Inspection/Audit: Contraventions of this duty may be the subject of an investigation by the Commission (Section 15(4)).

• Making Reasonable Adjustments for Disability:

  • Requirement: Employers, firms, educational authorities, and service providers must make reasonable adjustments for persons with a disability to perform genuine and reasonable requirements of employment/partnership, or to participate in/access educational programs/services, unless the person could not adequately perform/participate/access even after adjustments (Sections 20(2), 33(2), 40(2), 45(2)). Accommodation providers must allow reasonable alterations for persons with a disability (Sections 55(1), 56(2)).
  • Evidence: Document the assessment process for determining reasonableness, including considerations of the individual’s circumstances (nature of disability), the nature of the adjustments required, the financial circumstances of the organisation, the size and nature of the workplace/business/operations, the effect of adjustments on the organisation (financial impact, impact on efficiency, productivity, customer service, number of persons benefiting or disadvantaged), and the consequences for the individual if adjustments are not made (Sections 20(3), 33(3), 40(3), 45(3)).
  • Record-keeping: Maintain records of any relevant action plan made under Part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Commonwealth) or a Disability Action Plan made under the Disability Act 2006 (Victoria) (Sections 20(3)(i), (j); 33(3)(h), (i); 40(3)(g), (h); 45(3)(g), (h)). Keep records of compliance with relevant disability standards made under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Commonwealth) or determinations made under section 160B of the Building Act 1993 (Victoria) relating to adjustments to buildings or land (Sections 20(5), (6); 33(5), (6); 40(4), (5); 45(4), (5); 58(3)).

• Accommodating Parent or Carer Responsibilities:

  • Requirement: Employers, principals, and firms must not unreasonably refuse to accommodate the responsibilities that job applicants, employees, contract workers, or partners have as parents or carers (Sections 17(1), 19(1), 22(1), 32(1)).
  • Evidence: Document the consideration process for requests for accommodation, including the individual’s circumstances (nature of responsibilities), the nature of the role, the nature of arrangements required, the financial circumstances of the organisation, the size and nature of the workplace/business, the effect on the workplace/business of accommodation (financial impact, number of persons benefiting or disadvantaged, impact on efficiency, productivity, customer service), and the consequences for the organisation and the individual of making or not making accommodation (Sections 17(2), 19(2), 22(2), 32(2)).

• Prohibition on Discriminatory Advertising:

  • Requirement: Do not publish or authorise the publication or display of an advertisement or notice indicating an intent to contravene the Act (Section 182).
  • Actions/Evidence: Implement internal policies and training for marketing and advertising personnel to prevent discriminatory content.
  • Defence: To defend against a charge, the organisation must prove it took reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence to prevent the publication or display (Section 183).
  • Inspection/Audit: The Commission may, by written notice, require the production of documents specified in the notice for the purpose of proceedings under this section (Section 184(1)). Failure to produce without reasonable excuse is an offence punishable by penalties (60 penalty units for natural persons, 300 for bodies corporate) (Section 184(2)).

• Prohibition on Requesting Discriminatory Information:

  • Requirement: Do not request or require information that could be used as a basis for discrimination (Section 107(1)).
  • Actions/Evidence: If information is requested for a legitimate purpose that does not involve prohibited discrimination, the organisation bears the burden of proving this (Section 108(2)).
  • Record-keeping: Information collected for non-prohibited purposes must not be disclosed or communicated unless necessary for that purpose. It must be destroyed or permanently de-identified when no longer required for the stated purpose (Section 108(3)). This implies a need for data retention and destruction policies.

• Vicarious Liability and Prevention:

  • Requirement: An employer or principal is vicariously liable for contraventions of the Act by an employee or agent unless they prove they took reasonable precautions to prevent the contravention (Section 110).
  • Evidence: Maintain documentation of policies, training programs, and supervisory practices implemented to prevent discrimination, sexual harassment, and victimisation by employees or agents.

• Voluntary Action Plans:

  • Requirement: Organisations may prepare an action plan specifying steps to improve compliance with the Act (Section 152(1)).
  • Record-keeping/Reporting: Copies of action plans may be provided to the Commission for inclusion in a public Register of Action Plans (Section 153).

• Engagement with Dispute Resolution and Investigations:

  • Timeframes: The Commission may decline to provide dispute resolution if the alleged contravention occurred more than 12 months before the dispute was brought (Section 116(a)).
  • Actions: Participate in Commission dispute resolution processes when a dispute is brought (Part 8, Division 1). If a settlement agreement is reached, any party may request a written record within 30 days, which can then be certified by the Commission and lodged with the Tribunal for registration as an order (Section 119, 120).
  • Inspection/Audit: If the Commission conducts an investigation, organisations may be subject to Tribunal orders compelling the production of information or documents (Section 131) or attendance to answer questions (Section 134).
  • Confidentiality: Comply with directions from the Tribunal or Commission prohibiting the disclosure of the identity of persons who provide information or documents, or the publication of evidence, information, or documents (Sections 131(6), 134(5), 135(2), 136(1)).
  • Reporting: If the Commission intends to make adverse findings about a person in an investigation report, that person must be given a reasonable opportunity to comment and respond before the report is provided to the Attorney-General, Parliament, or published (Section 143(1)).

Metadata Keywords:

Equal opportunity, discrimination, sexual harassment, victimisation, employment, disability, human rights, compliance, Victoria, anti-discrimination.

Publication Information:

Publication date: 1 September 2015 (incorporating amendments as at) Version number: 020 Original Act Number: No. 16 of 2010

Agricultural Industry Alignment:

Beef & Veal, Chicken, Coarse Grains, Cotton, Dairy, Eggs, Fisheries, Forestry, Horticulture, Oilseeds, Pig, Sheep Meat, Sugar, Wheat, Wine, Wool.

Date Added to database:

This document was parsed and added to the database on 25-07-2025

URL:

https://content.legislation.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/29c43705-c5ac-3ef7-9ca2-366392ee6f7e_10-16aa020%20authorised.pdf →