Current laws do not address pay-gap discrimination, says Tasmania’s former anti-discrimination commissioner, who believes Canadian laws could influence necessary legal reform in this area.
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Former anti-discrimination commissioner Robin Banks is one year into a three year PhD with the University of Tasmania exploring possible reforms to discrimination laws across Australia.
“When I was commissioner we would often hear people raise concerns about the legal process, whether it was sufficiently accessible to people who are often very disadvantaged,” she said.
“And whether there are alternative ways to deal with, not just individual instances of discrimination that happen, which I guess the law is more designed to deal with, but also how to deal with the much broader patterns of discrimination, things like the pay gap, which endures not only for women but other marginalised groups.”
Ms Banks said her study will look at whether the definition of discrimination is sufficient to encompass all nuances of discrimination, and will also look at accessibility issues.
A second part will examine how the law should deal with systemic and structural forms of discrimination like the pay gap issue.
Ms Banks said mechanisms within Canadian law are worth exploring and considering for Australia, for instance, laws that have in-built mechanisms that allow women and other marginalised groups to challenge pay-gap concerns and others that offer expert legal support to those filing complaints.
The Human Rights Legal Support Centre, in Canada, is created by legislation and helps people file applications, provides legal representation, and helps to enforce tribunal orders.
“This system could overcome the barriers that we see here in Australia, where it is difficult to get representation.
“In Tasmania, there is effectively no legal aid for complainants to pursue a discrimination complaint, and complainants may even struggle to find the expertise in this state that they need.”
The research is overseen by Professors’ Don Chalmers and Margaret Otolowski.
“This is an opportunity to look at where we can make it easier for organisations and governments to get it right in advance… rather than requiring our most disadvantaged people to drive change through complaint.”
