Anti-discrimination laws are a mix of Federal and state legislation, where knowledge of both is essential to protect your rights as a carer.

Commonwealth laws

Commonwealth anti-discrimination laws – The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) and the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) also protect carers.

The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) provides female workers with protection from discrimination on the grounds of their family responsibilities. These are defined as the responsibility to care for or support a dependent child or immediate family member i.e. a spouse, adult child, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of the employee or of the employee’s spouse.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) provides protection for everyone in Australia against discrimination based on disability. Disability discrimination happens when people with a disability and/or their carers are treated less fairly than people without a disability.

Concerns can be taken to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC).

NSW laws

The Anti-Discrimination (Carers’ Responsibilities) Act 2000 (NSW) protects working carers from discrimination. Discrimination includes unfair treatment, harassment, dismissal or threatened dismissal by anyone in your workplace. It is also against the law to treat you unfairly because someone thinks you have caring responsibilities now, did have in the past or will have in the future, or because of actual caring responsibilities in the past or future.

Not everyone is covered by the law. It relates only to carers of immediate family, guardians, and those with parental responsibility for a child. The law covers caring for a parent, a child, a foster child, spouse, de facto partner, same-sex partner, grandchild, grandparent, sibling or other immediate family member in need of the person’s care and support.

However, working carers are encouraged to discuss their responsibilities to care for others who are not covered by the law. For example, if you are caring for an aunt, uncle, cousin, niece, nephew, friend and/or neighbour, employers are often willing to go that extra mile given the particular circumstances.

Under the Act, employers must reasonably accommodate the caring responsibilities of their employees unless they can show it would cause them unjustifiable hardship. For examples, see our Fact Sheet Your Rights at Work.

Concerns about discrimination on the grounds of carers’ responsibilities can be taken to the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board.

What next?

If you would like to learn more about the issues raised in this Fact Sheet you may like to try:

• returning to the Employees menu on the Gateway
• checking out the Federal Government Workplace Relations website for more information on Carers
• visiting the relevant state workplace and employment website
  • NSW - http://www.industrialrelations.nsw.gov.au
    VIC - http://www.business.vic.gov.au
    QLD - http://www.deir.qld.gov.au
    SA - http://www.service.sa.gov.au
    WA - http://wa.gov.au/governmentservices/jobseconomy
    TAS - http://www.service.tas.gov.au
    NT - http://www.nt.gov.au
    ACT - http://www.act.gov.au
• subscribing to our monthly newsletter, Work 'n' Care, for regular information and support regarding the issues facing working carers.

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