An overview of legal procedure & case law
The following laws operate at a Federal level and the Australian Human Rights Commission has statutory responsibilities under them:
Commonwealth laws and the state/territory laws generally cover the same grounds and areas of discrimination. However, there are some ‘gaps’ in the protection that is offered between different states and territories and at a Commonwealth level.
In addition, there are circumstances where only the Commonwealth law would apply or where only the state or territory law would apply.
The Australian Human Rights Commission is an independent body which investigates and resolves:
A complaint can be made no matter where you live in Australia and it doesn’t cost anything to make a complaint. The steps in the complaint process are:
Coverage: ALL Australian employees
Cost for application: No cost
Lodgment time limit: 12 months
High income threshold: No limit
Maximum amount of compensation possible: No limit
There are agencies in each state and territory which deal with anti-discrimination matters under their respective laws. The agencies are: