AGY-1934 | Equal Opportunity Tribunal

Full description

The Equal Opportunity Tribunal was established by proclamation of Schedule 2 of the Anti-Discrimination (Amendment) Act 1981, on 18 September 1981.(1) The Tribunal carried out the quasi-judicial role previously exercised by the Anti-Discrimination Board. Previously this had resulted in the perception of bias when a judicial inquiry by the Board overlapped with the Board's involvement in research and community education.(2) The Equal Opportunity Tribunal was required to hold an inquiry into each complaint or matter referred to it under the provisions of the Anti-Discrimination Act, 1977 (Act No 48, 1977), and as amended. This legislation made provision for discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, marital status, homosexuality, transgender, disability, and age, in the areas of work, education, provision of goods and services, and access to places and vehicles, to be unlawful, with prohibition of sexual harassment, and vilification on the grounds of race, transgender, homosexuality, or HIV/AIDS.(3) The Tribunal consisted of between 5 to 7 part-time members, with one of these to be a judicial member (4), altered to an unspecified number of part-time judicial or other members in 1983.(5) For the purpose of exercising it's functions, the Tribunal was usually composed of three members, comprising a judicial member and two members who were not judicial members, selected by the Senior Judicial Member.(6) In 1989 the Tribunal was a body in the Legislation and Policy Division of the Attorney General's Department (7) by 1993 it was situated in the Individual Rights Program (8) and the following year in the Human Rights Program (9) where it remained until the tribunal was abolished. Following the Administrative Decisions Act, 1997, the Administrative Decisions Tribunal was established on 6 October 1998. The Equal Opportunities Tribunal was amalgamated into the new Tribunal, as it's Equal Opportunities Division.(7) FOOTNOTES:
(1) NSW Government Gazette, 18 September 1981, p.4891
(2) Fourth Annual Report of the Anti-Discrimination Board for the year ended 30 June 1981, p.116
(3) http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bi.../?query=title+%28+%22anti+discrimination%22+%2, p.1-7
(4) Anti-Discrimination (Amendment) Act, 1981 (Act No 15, 1981) s.69c
(5) Anti-Discrimination (Amendment) Act, 1983 (Act No 117, 1983) s.3
(6) Annual Report of the Equal Opportunity Tribunal, Part II of the Annual Report of the Anti-Discrimination Board for the year ended 30 June 1986, p.70
(7) Attorney General's Department of NSW 1989 Annual Report p. 32-33
(8) Report of the Attorney General's Department for the year ended 30 June 1993 p. 15, 35
(9) Report of the Attorney General's Department for the year ended 30 June 1994 p. 10, 27
(10) http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/adt.nsf/pages/adt 1