Discrimination Solicitors

Sunshine Coast Discrimination Solicitors

If you feel that you have been discriminated against and would like to contract the services of an experienced workplace discrimination lawyer, you’re in the right place. Butler McDermott’s discrimination lawyers on the Sunshine Coast have many years of experience in defamation law, and can be of great assistance.

Protection under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld

Discrimination is the exclusion, restriction, distinction or preference of a person because of a particular attribute that person has, or does not have which results in the person being dealt with unfairly or differently to another person on that basis.

In Queensland, the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld) prohibits discrimination on the attributes of sex, relationship status, pregnancy, parental status, breastfeeding, age, race, impairment, religious belief, political belief, trade union activity, lawful sexual activity, gender identity, sexuality and family responsibilities. It also prohibits discrimination of person associated with, or related to a person with those attributes.

For protection under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld) the discrimination must have occurred during work (or applying for a job or promotion), whilst in education, when being provided with goods or services, when dealing with land or accommodation, when dealing with membership of clubs and perhaps most importantly, when dealing with administration of State and local government.

The Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld) recognises both direct and in-direct discrimination.

Direct discrimination is normally quite obvious and easy to recognise, perhaps you may have been told in an interview that you are not suitable for a job because of your gender, race, sexuality or that you have children for instance.

More difficult to recognise is in-direct discrimination which unfairly treats person’s with a particular attribute in their general policies or rules, perhaps a business has a policy of only hiring persons of a particular height, or refuses to allow part-time work, which unfairly disadvantages certain groups.

Not all acts that cause disadvantage to a certain group with an identifiable attribute will be discriminatory, there must be a reasonable approach taken to what amounts to discrimination and what does not.

Ordinarily a complaint may first be made the Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland. However, where that outcome is not satisfactory, legal proceedings can be filed to obtain a remedy, such as an apology and/or compensation.