Human Rights Commission welcomes age discrimination laws
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) has today welcomed the passing of the Age Discrimination Bill in the Senate. The legislation means that, for the first time, there will be an enforceable remedy in federal law for people who suffer discrimination on the basis of their age.
The President of the Commission, John Von Doussa QC, said the legislation represents a positive step towards ensuring that older people can continue to be active participants in the community.
“It is especially important given the rapidly growing ageing population in Australia,” said Mr von Doussa.
Under the new legislation, HREOC will be able to handle complaints from individuals if they feel they have suffered discrimination in key areas of public life, including: employment; education; access to goods and services; and the administration of Commonwealth laws and programs. The new legislation also confers other functions on the Commission, including education and promotional roles.
In May 2000, the Human Rights Commission produced a report entitled ‘Age Matters: a report on age discrimination’, which recommended enactment of comprehensive federal age discrimination legislation. The current Human Rights Commissioner, Dr Sev Ozdowski OAM, has continued to press for this reform.
The Commission was involved in the consultation process on the development of the new legislation and provided a submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee on the draft legislation.
HREOC raised a number of concerns about the draft legislation during the consultation process, many of which have not been addressed. Nevertheless, the legislation is a welcome tool for the enforcement of the human rights for those who may suffer discrimination on the basis of their age.
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