Discrimination law: Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) administers Commonwealth discrimination laws in the areas of age, race, sex and disability discrimination.

Its latest Human Rights Law Bulletin 21 gives an idea of the scope of its interests: there are reports on cases dealing with self-represented litigants, unfair dismissal, racial hatred, gender balance in schools and ethno-religious derogatory remarks at work.

Under the draft report on the review of the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport it is proposed that the HREOC be given the power to refer cases of breaches of the Standards to the Federal Court.