Page 3892 - Week 13 - Thursday, 17 October 1991
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The Federal Government is also considering the question of age discrimination, and the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General has established a working party of officials from the Commonwealth, States and Territories, including the ACT, to examine the matter, with particular reference to superannuation, compulsory age retirement and pensions.
In order to ensure that these issues were dealt with in a uniform way throughout Australia, the former Attorney-General, Mr Collaery, gave a commitment that ACT legislation will not affect superannuation until the results of the working party deliberations are known. I am happy to support this approach. For this reason, superannuation is currently exempted from the provisions of the Bill. The exemption is, however, intended to be a temporary one, and the provisions will be re-examined once the working party concludes its work.
The working party discussions are also obviously relevant to the inclusion of age as a ground of discrimination in the Bill. The Government's policy is aimed at maximising the independence of the aged and minimising loss to the community as a result of compulsory and forced retirement based on age alone. Age discrimination occurs across the entire age spectrum, and the Government recognises the special need of young people for protection against unwarranted discrimination.
We are committed to protecting the residents of the ACT from discrimination of this kind. Proposals regarding age discrimination are presently being developed and will be given a high priority to ensure that the legislation is extended to cover age discrimination as soon as possible. Apart from the exceptions provided for expressly in the Bill, the commissioner has the power to grant additional exemptions in particular cases for up to three years.
In line with the Government's social justice policy, the Bill makes discrimination on the ground of mental or physical impairment unlawful. The terms of the legislation recognise that sometimes it is necessary to accommodate the special needs of people with impairments in order not to discriminate against them. This may involve, for example, providing a special piece of equipment to enable a person to do a particular job or modifying access to a building to allow equal access for people in wheelchairs. Where such measures would impose unjustifiable hardship, however, discrimination will not be unlawful.
The test of unjustifiable hardship is designed to enable a balance to be struck between providing real equality of opportunity for people with impairments and the needs and resources of the community. In deciding what constitutes unjustifiable hardship, it will be necessary to look at all the circumstances of the case, including the nature of the
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