What difficulties face a person with a criminal record who wishes to use current anti-discrimination legislation?
JSS notes that it is unlawful under Commonwealth equal opportunity law (but not Victorian) for an employer to discriminate against a current or potential employee by not employing or sacking them because they have a criminal record. However, JSS also notes that HREOC is limited in its power to enforce this law and that there is no practical capacity for a prospective employee to gain compensation or other relief by filing a complaint. While Tasmania and the Northern Territory have laws that specifically prohibit discrimination on the basis of criminal record, and the court can order an employer not to repeat or continue the prohibited conduct, to pay compensation or to take specific action, including re-employing a person, Victoria has no such legislation. In addition to these legislative barriers, one practical barrier is that ex-prisoners can be suspicious of ‘the system,’ wary of legal representation, and therefore reluctant to take their case to an adjudicator such as HEREOC.
Related Questions
- Woud not an elected person from the democratic experience sometimes face a contradiction between the position taken by the democratic experience and his/her own convictions?
- What difficulties face a person with a criminal record who wishes to use current anti-discrimination legislation?
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