Complaints under the Age Discrimination Act
You can make a
complaint under the Age Discrimination Act (ADA) if you have been treated unfairly because
of your age. The ADA covers people of all ages – young, old and everyone
in between.
Age discrimination is
covered in many areas of public life, including:
- employment– seeking employment, training, promotion, equal pay, employment conditions or dismissal
- education – at school, TAFE, university or a private training provider
- provision of goods and services– such as buying something, applying for a loan or credit card, using public transport, seeking assistance from a service provider, going to shops or entertainment venues
- land, accommodation and housing – renting or buying a house or flat
- asking for particular information – such as asking your age during interviews
- administration of Commonwealth laws and programs.
Here are some
examples of complaints we receive under the ADA:
The company Carlos worked for was taken over by new owners. Carlos, who is 63, claimed he was not employed by the new owners because of his age and was told he didn’t fit the image of the new organisation.
Robyn is 43 and applied for an apprenticeship after seeing an ad in a paper. She was told she was too old to be considered because “apprenticeships are for young people”.
Tarik went to a local nightclub with his friends
but were refused entry. He claims they were told that only people aged over 20
were allowed in to the club.
The
ADA includes some exceptions where it is not unlawful to make distinctions on
the basis of age, including some Commonwealth laws; State laws; certain health
programmes; and youth wages or direct compliance with industrial agreements and
awards.
Information about making a
complaint under the ADA is available in our plain
language Complaints Guide to the Age Discrimination Act
Find
out more:
- Information for people making a complaint
- Information for people responding to a complaint
- Conciliation – how it works describes how we resolve complaints
- Case studies of conciliated complaints of age discrimination
- Frequently asked questions about making a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission
- The Commission’s current work to address age discrimination.
Contact us
For more information, contact the Complaints Infoline on 1300 656 419 (local call) or 02 9284 9888. You can also send us an email at complaintsinfo@humanrights.gov.au.
