Page 558 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 19 May 1992
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prohibition of discrimination, according to the Discrimination Act, in the appointment of staff, as well as the establishment of equal employment opportunity programs for the development and promotion of staff within the authorities. Separately, the Government has taken steps to ensure that Territory owned corporations will comply with Commonwealth affirmative action legislation and will voluntarily comply with the ACT Government's EEO policy and strategies.
Madam Speaker, equal employment opportunity is not merely about complying with statutory requirements. If it were, we would have seen a great deal more progress to date. EEO is an essential component of best practice in modern management. It ensures that employees are able to pursue careers effectively. It also enhances efficiency by recognising and using the full productive capacity of our current and potential employees. Implementation of EEO will ensure that the diversity of the ACT community is reflected in the ACT Government Service work force. Thus, policy development and service delivery will be made by a more multicultural and gender balanced work force. These Bills are designed to ensure that employment principles are based on equal employment opportunity and merit. They complement the Discrimination Act and the ACT Government EEO policy. The Bills are also consistent with the EEO provisions in the Public Service Act.
Madam Speaker, these Bills provide that matters related to employment must be carried out without unjustified discrimination, as established by the Discrimination Act and on the grounds of age or social origin. There have been many barriers preventing those who are competent from obtaining employment or advancing in their field of employment. Exclusion has been on the basis of such grounds as race, culture, physical disability or sex. Perhaps one of the most blatant and notorious barriers was the bar to permanent appointment of married women in the Australian Public Service, which was not lifted until 1966.
However, prohibition of discrimination is not enough to provide equal opportunities for those concerned. Once the obvious barriers in employment are removed, attention needs to be turned to more subtle forms of discrimination, such as indirect discrimination and systemic discrimination. Indirect discrimination occurs when an employer sets a requirement of employment with which proportionally fewer designated group members can comply and which is not necessary or reasonable for the position involved. Complaints of indirect discrimination become more frequent during difficult economic times, such as those that we are going through now.
Systemic discrimination is often the unintentional consequence of administrative practices and rules that are based on outdated and erroneous assumptions about different groups of people. It is also based on the inclination to hire those who are similar to the hirers, instead of seeing the potential of those who come with different but useful experience and skills. It is not sufficient to make specific acts of discrimination unlawful. Relying on legislation to outlaw discrimination alone will not adequately remove the effects of discrimination. Nor is it sufficient to have a public service culture which says that it has been committed to EEO over a long period when this is not reflected in the work force today.
Madam Speaker, the Federal Government House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs recently reported on its inquiry into equal opportunity and equal status for women in Australia. The report noted that women in Australia do not enjoy equal opportunity, nor do they have
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