Organisation

AGY-32 | Anti-Discrimination Board (1977-2019) / Anti-Discrimination New South Wales (2019- )

NSW State Archives Collection
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Full description

The Anti-Discrimination Board (1) consisting of The President and two other members, and the Office of the Counsellor for Equal Opportunity (2) were established by the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (Act No.48, 1977). The Act rendered discrimination unlawful on the grounds of race, sex and marital status in the areas of employment, (3) the provision of goods and services, (4) and prohibited discrimination on the grounds of race in education (5) and access to places and vehicles. (6) The Act generally promoted equality of opportunity between all persons.

The Anti-Discrimination Act required the Counsellor for Equal Opportunity to investigate (7) and conciliate complaints of discrimination brought under the Act and refer them to the Anti-Discrimination Board if conciliation was unsuccessful. (8) The Board acted as an agent in NSW for the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission under the Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act, Sex Discrimination Act and Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act. The Commonwealth contributed to the cost of administering these federal acts by way of a grant. (9) The Anti-Discrimination Board also carries out research (10) and participates in community education regarding discrimination. (11)

The Anti-Discrimination Act was amended by the Anti-Discrimination (Amendment) Act 1980 (Act No.67, 1980) which established a statutory position of the Director of Equal Opportunity in Public Employment. (12) The functions of the unit were:
. to advise and assist government departments and authorities in the development and implementation of (equal employment opportunity management plans;
. to evaluate the effectiveness of management plans;
. to make reports and recommendations ... to the Minister on the effectiveness of these plans in achieving equal employment opportunity. (13)

Further amendments to the Act followed in the Anti-Discrimination (Amendment) Act, 1981 (Act No. 15, 1981). These amendments included adding physical impairment as a ground of unlawful discrimination in the fields of employment, education, the provision of goods and services and accommodation adding registered clubs and education in government educational authorities, (14) and creation an Equal Opportunity Tribunal. (15) The tribunal consisted of a Judicial Member and five to seven lay members appointed from a wide variety of community groups. (16) The Tribunal took over the quasi-judicial functions of the Board, and was required to inquire into complaints of discrimination referred by the President of the Anti-Discrimination Board. (17) The act also added to the provisions of the principal act relating to discrimination by licensed clubs, (18) altered the constitution of the Anti-Discrimination Board (19) and added a number of minor amendments.

The Anti-Discrimination (Amendment) Act 1983 (Act No.117, 1983) altered the structure of the Equal Opportunity Tribunal allowing for the appointment of a number of part-time judicial or other members as determined by the governor. (20)

By January 1983 the Anti-Discrimination Board absorbed the office of the Counsellor of Equal Opportunity. (21)

In 1988 the Board became part of the Attorney General's Department where it was initially placed in the Legislation and Policy Directorate. (22) By 1993 it was an independent body in the Individual Rights Program (23) and the following year in the Human Rights Program. (24) In 2002 the Board was placed in the Community and Regulatory Services of the Department. (25)

From 1 July 2009 when the Attorney General's Department was abolished the Anti-Discrimination Board became a branch of the new Principal Department, the Department of Justice and Attorney General. (26)

From 4 April 2011, when the name of the Department of Justice and Attorney General was changed, the Anti-Discrimination Board became a branch of the Department of Attorney General and Justice. (27)

In January 2014, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) took over the functions of a number of NSW tribunals. This included the Administrative Decisions Tribunal which previously dealt with complaints under the Anti-Discrimination Act. If a complaint could not be conciliated by the Board, and in certain other cases, it was referred to the Administrative and Equal Opportunity Division of NCAT for a hearing. NCAT made legal judgments that could be enforced or appealed. The establishment of NCAT required amendment of sections of the Anti-Discrimination Act that referred to the Tribunal and its functions. These changes were introduced through the Civil and Administrative Legislation (Repeal and Amendment) Act 2013. In May 2014, the Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2014 introduced an amendment to section 122 of the ADA. The changes clarified the process to be used when the Minister lays the Board's annual report before Parliament each year. The Anti-Discrimination Act was further amended with the introduction of the Government Sector Employment Act 2013 (GSE Act). Part 9A of the Anti-Discrimination Act (which dealt with Equal Employment Opportunity in the Public Sector) was removed, and replaced with new workforce diversity provisions in the GSE Act. (28)

On 13 August 2018 the Crimes Amendment (Publicly Threatening and Inciting Violence) Act 2018 (NSW) came into effect. The amendments removed the offences of serious vilification on the grounds of race, homosexuality, transgender, or HIV/AIDS status from the Act and replaced them in section 93Z of the Crimes Act 1900 with a single, indictable offence of publicly threatening or inciting violence on the grounds of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex or HIV/AIDS status. The President continued to have the power to investigate complaints of vilification on the grounds of race, homosexuality, transgender, and HIV/AIDS status that do not include threats or incitement to harm people or property. (29)

From 1 July 2019, the more contemporary name of Anti-Discrimination NSW (ADNSW) was adopted for the agency; the statutory board, as established under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW) (the Act), comprises the President and Board members, who constitute the Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW. (30) This change was also accompanied by a re-structure in which a Governance and Advice team, a Regional Services team and a Community Engagement team were created. (31)

Endnotes
1. Anti-Discrimination Act (Act No.48, 1977) s.71.
2. Ibid s.60.
3. Ibid ss.8-16 and 25-30.
4. Ibid ss.19, 33.
5. Ibid. s.17.
6. Ibid. s.18.
7. Ibid s.89-93.
8. Ibid s.94.
9. Attorney-General's Department Annual Report, 1988, p.126.
10. Anti-Discrimination Act, 1977 s. 119.
11. Anti-Discrimination Board Annual Report, 1978-9, pp.15-16.
12. Anti-Discrimination (Amendment) Act 1980 s.122E.
13. Ibid. s.122 (I).
14. Anti-Discrimination (Amendment) Act, 1981, Schedule 1.
15. Ibid. Schedule 2.
16. Ibid. s.69c.
17. Ibid.
18. Ibid. Schedule 4.
19. Ibid. Schedule 3.
20. The Anti-Discrimination (Amendment) Act, 1983 (Act No.117, 1983), s.3 amending s.69(1) of the Principal Act.
21. Concise Guide. 2nd Edition. A-Cl, p.63.
22. Attorney General's Department Report for 1989, pp.32-33.
23. Report of the Attorney General's Department for the year ended 30 June 1993, p.15.
24. Report of the Attorney General's Department for the year ended 30 June 1994, pp.10, 27.
25. Report of the Attorney General's Department for the year ended 30 June 2002, pp.7, 38-39.
26. Public Sector Employment and Management (Departmental Amalgamations) Order 2009 (2009 No 352) cls. 20; notified on NSW Legislation website, 27 July 2009.
27. Public Sector Employment and Management (Departments) Order 2011 (2011 No 184) cls. 36; notified on NSW Legislation website, 3 April 2011.
28. Anti-Discrimination Board of New South Wales Annual Report 2013-2014, p.9.
29. Anti-Discrimination Board of New South Wales Annual Report 2018-2919, p.4.
30. Anti-Discrimination Board of New South Wales Annual Report 2018-2919, p.2.
31. Anti-Discrimination Board of New South Wales Annual Report 2019-2020, p.6.

REFERENCES
1. "Concise Guide" 2nd Edition "A - Cl", "Anti-Discrimination Board" p.63.
2. NSW Government Directory, 1977/8-1996.

 

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