Where to find equal opportunity law

Australia has two levels of law-making. The Federal Parliament makes laws that, within constitutional limits, can apply across Australia. State and Territory Parliaments make laws that apply locally but not nationally. This means that South Australians are covered by two lots of equal opportunity laws.  

The Federal laws are:

• Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986
• Racial Discrimination Act 1975
• Sex Discrimination Act 1984
• Disability Discrimination Act 1992
• Age Discrimination Act 2004
• Fair Work Act 2009

These laws generally apply across Australia, including in South Australia, but there can be some situations where they don't apply.

State equal opportunity law is found mostly in the Equal Opportunity Act 1984, but there is also some law against racial vilification to be found in the Civil Liability Act and the Criminal Law Consolidation Act.

The Whistleblowers Protection Act 1993 (SA) also protects people from being victimised for revealing information in good faith that is important for the public to know.

To look up a Federal law, you can go to the Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) and choose Commonwealth and then Commonwealth Consolidated Acts. (An Act is ‘consolidated’ if all amendments have been added in - it means you are looking at the law as it stands today.)

To look up a South Australian law, go to www.legislation.sa.gov.au and select from the alphabetical list (state and territory laws also appear on the AustLII site).