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Equal Opportunity Review This is archived content dated pre-December 2010. Material may not reflect current government policies and initiatives.

Background to the review

Equal opportunity legislation in Victoria dates back to 1977. The legislation has been successful in raising awareness and preventing some forms of discrimination. However, there remains a need to better address systemic barriers to equal opportunity.

This need was raised in the Attorney-General's Justice Statement 2004 and 2008, the Victorian Government's 2006 election commitment, as well as recent government policies including Growing Victoria Together 2 and A Fairer Victoria. These policies recognise the particular relationship between systemic discrimination and entrenched disadvantage in Victoria.

Review process

In August 2007, the Attorney-General appointed former Victorian Public Advocate, Mr Julian Gardner, to conduct a review of certain aspects of the Equal Opportunity Act 1995.

The review was conducted between September 2007 and June 2008. A Discussion Paper was released in November 2007 and was followed by an Options Paper in March 2008. The Discussion and the Options Paper, and submissions from the public to the Papers can be downloaded from Related Publications menus.

Input to the review was also received through meetings and consultations with a range of stakeholders, including business and community groups.

Exceptions and Exemptions

The review did not consider the exceptions and exemptions in the Act. These were the subject of a separate review. The details of this review can be found on the Exceptions Review page.

Final Report

The final report from the review was launched in July 2008. The report, An Equality Act for a Fairer Victoria, made recommendations on a range of issues including the scope of the legislation, the complaints process and the powers and governance structure of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.

Implementation

The first stage of the Government’s response to the final report was implemented through the Equal Opportunity Amendment (Governance) Act 2009. This Act implements the recommendations relating to the governance structure of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.
The Act commenced operation on 1 October 2009. The Act created a new governance structure for the Commission that provides clear lines of responsibility and accountability.  In particular, the Act established:

• a new position of Commissioner, who has control of the day to day administration of the affairs of the Commission
• a Board with sufficient capacity to provide strategic oversight of the Commission’s broad responsibilities under the Equal Opportunity Act, the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities and the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001.

The new Commissioner and Board were announced by the Attorney-General on 30 September 2009 and 4 November 2009. A copy of these announcements are available for downloading.

 

To find the Equal Opportunity Amendment (Governance) Act 2009 follow Web Links and Legislation menus.

 

The 2010 Statement of Government Intentions states that the Government will introduce legislation in 2010 to respond to the remainder of the recommendations in the final report.

The Equal Opportunity Bill 2010 has been introduced into Parliament and implements most of the remaining recommendations from the final report. The key reforms in the Bill include:

• changing the Commission from a complaints handling body to one that educates and facilitates dispute resolution, best practice and compliance
• giving the Commission more effective options to respond to systemic discrimination
• encouraging best practice and proactive compliance by duty holders without reliance on individual complaints
• providing a more effective and efficient system for resolving disputes
• removing legal and technical barriers to the elimination of discrimination
• clarifying, updating and amending certain exceptions to unlawful discrimination (please refer to the Exceptions Review page for further information on the exceptions and exemptions).

The Attorney-General announced the changes on Monday 8 March 2010. A media release is available from the Premier’s website at www.premier.vic.gov.au and a copy of the Bill can be downloaded at www.legislation.vic.gov.au.

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Author:	Equal Opportunity Act Review Project Team
Place of Publication:	Melbourne
Publisher:	Department of Justice
Date of Publication:	Discussion Paper - November 2007 Options Paper - March 2008 Final Report - June 2008
Number of Pages:	Discussion Paper - 82 pages Discussion Paper Easy English - 22 pages Options Paper - 123 pages Oprtions Paper Easy English - 14 pages Options Paper Large Print - 319 pages Final Report PDF - 160 pages Final Report Word - 130 pages Speech by the Hon R Hulls MP Attorney-General - 7 pages Speech by Julian Gardner - 5 pages Media Release Equality Commissioner and Board Announced - 2 pages
Copyright:	State of Victoria 2007 and 2008.