Different Types Of Discrimination In The Workplace

The different types of discrimination reported in Australia are not the same as the types actually experienced, and the gap between those two lists is the useful information.

Disability consistently produces the largest share of complaints handled by the Australian Human Rights Commission, followed by sex and race. That ranking reflects what gets formally complained about, which is shaped by how visible the conduct is and how confident the person feels about naming it.

Age discrimination is widely experienced and comparatively under-complained, partly because it is hard to evidence and partly because older workers weighing a complaint against re-employment prospects often decide against it. Indirect and structural discrimination is under-reported for a simpler reason. There is no incident to point at.

So a low complaint count in a category is not evidence that the category is clean. It is evidence about your reporting environment as much as about your workplace.

The Australian Human Rights Commission publishes complaint information. This is general information rather than legal advice.

See Sentrient’s equal employment opportunity course and workplace compliance system.