Different Types Of Discrimination At Work

The different types of discrimination at work are easier to think about as a spectrum of visibility, because that predicts how likely you are to find them.

Overt. A comment, a joke, a stated preference. Rare now, easy to recognise, and usually dealt with quickly once reported.

Covert. A decision with a stated reason that is not the real one. The paperwork looks clean. These surface through pattern rather than through any single file, which is why they persist.

Structural. Nobody decided anything. A requirement, a criterion or a norm carries a disadvantage that no individual introduced and no individual owns. Promotion criteria rewarding unbroken service is the classic example.

Most organisations have controls for the first and almost none for the third. If your entire detection system is a complaints process, you will only ever find overt conduct, because the other two produce no obvious moment to complain about.

The Australian Human Rights Commission handles complaints under the federal Acts. This is general information rather than legal advice.

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