Marital status

Marital status

Legislation:

Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (SA)
Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth)

Areas of discrimination on basis of marital status under SA law

Under the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (SA) it is illegal to discriminate against a person on the basis of their marital status. Marital status includes:

being single
married
married but living separately
divorced
widowed
cohabiting with a person of the opposite sex in a de facto relationship

Discrimination is prohibited in the following areas:

education
employment
accommodation
disposal of interest in land
conferral of qualifications
provision of goods and services
membership of associations
advertising

Exemptions

Employment in a private household
Accommodation
- where the person providing the accommodation or a near relative of theirs intends to reside on the premises and the accommodation is for no more than 6 other persons
- provision of accommodation by not for profit organisation that provides accommodation for persons of a particular marital status
Charities
Measures intended to achieve equality
Religious bodies: training and ordination of priests and ministers of religion

Areas of discrimination on basis of marital status under Commonwealth law

As with the SA legislation, discrimination on the basis of marital status is prohibited under Commonwealth law. Marital status under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) is defined exactly as it is defined under SA law, that is:

being single
married
married but living separately
divorced
widowed
cohabiting with a person of the opposite sex in a de facto relationship

Discrimination on the basis of marital status is prohibited in the following areas:

employment
superannuation: exercise of discretion in relation to a payment if a member of a fund prior to 25^th June 1993
qualifying bodies: conferral of qualifications
education
provision of goods, services and facilities
accommodation
disposal of interest in land
membership of clubs
administration of Commonwealth laws and programs
requests for information

Exemptions

Accommodation:
- where person providing the accommodation (or a near relative of theirs) is to reside there with no more than 3 other persons
- where provided by a religious body
- where provided by a charitable or other not for profit organisation solely for persons of a particular marital status
Employment: it is not unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of marital status:

o if the position involves the care of a child or children in the place where they reside and it is intended that the spouse of the person holding the position would also occupy a position as an employee
o where employment is in an educational institution established for religious purposes

Religious bodies: training, appointment, ordination of priests or ministers of religion
Educational institutions established for religious purposes
Voluntary bodies
Charities
Acts done under statutory authority e.g. an order of a Court or tribunal or decision made under an industrial award or agreement
Superannuation funds
- where the fund conditions include a provision based on marital status as a result of actuarial or statistical data on which it is reasonable to rely
- where the member has no spouse and there is no or less generous provision in the event of the member’s death or incapacity

Making a complaint

Time limits: the Australian Human Rights Commissioner may decide not to take any action for complaints on acts committed more than 12 months previously. The Equal Opportunity Commission requires a complaint to be made within 6 months of the event being complained of.

Casual shop assistant has hours cut due to age and marital status

Karla, a woman in her forties, worked as a casual shop assistant at a bakery for about 5 years. She noticed that her hours had decreased in the last 12 months, down to only 3-6 hours in some weeks. Karla was told by her employer that her hours had been reduced because, "your partner works full time therefore you don't need the work".

She has also found that the owners had employed other staff through an agency and most of them were 10 years younger than her. She claimed that the owners often told her that her hair was greying and asked her if she wanted to borrow their glasses. Karla felt stressed, alienated from co-workers and started suffering panic attacks.

The owners responded that staff hours vary each week depending on business. Karla had suffered depression for years and could not do some parts of the job because she got so stressed. They also said that Karla refused to work in the mornings or afternoon shifts so extra workers had to be hired to help when they were busy.

Karla stated that she was able to work mornings and afternoons, and that she was capable of performing most duties associated with her position. She also repeated that only young workers were being employed.

Outcome: At conciliation the owners provided a verbal apology to Karla and made a payment of $3,000 for financial compensation.