Conciliation Register

The complainant’s son is an Australian citizen who was born outside Australia. She alleged he was unable to be considered for an internship with the respondent engineering company because he was born outside Australia.

The engineering company said it had obligations to its stakeholders that required strict recruitment processes. However, after considering the issues raised in the complaint, the company said that Australian citizenship would be enough to meet those obligations.

The complaint was resolved with an agreement that the company would change its recruitment advertisement and process to no longer require applicants to be born in Australia.

The complainant is paraplegic and uses a wheelchair. He alleged that the respondent council built a bridge that is not compliant with the relevant disability standard. He claimed pedestrians using wheelchairs were required to cross to roads, whereas pedestrians not using mobility aids were not required to do so.

The council claimed the disability standard did not apply to the bridge, but that the bridge would have been compliant. The council claimed the bridge was accessible and safe for pedestrians using wheelchairs. 

The complaint was resolved. The council agreed to meet with the complainant at the bridge to explore potential remedial work to improve safety for all pedestrians at the road crossings. The council also made changes to its accessibility planning mechanisms for future construction/capital works. The complainant agreed to make himself available to offer his accessibility expertise to council free of charge if required. 

The complainant has psychosocial disability, including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and panic attacks. He has two assistance dogs that assist him to stay calm and manage the effects of his disability. He alleged he was not permitted to enter his local library with his assistance dogs, despite providing evidence that they are assistance animals.

The respondent council said it had reservations about whether the dogs were trained to meet standards of behaviour acceptable for public areas.

The complaint was resolved. The complainant was permitted to enter his local library with his dogs after the council commissioned an assessment of their behaviour, at no cost to the complainant.

The complainant said the respondent called her to offer cleaning services. She alleged that when she asked the price, he said ‘Oh, it’s a bloody Indian’.

The respondent recalled saying the words and expressed a desire to try to resolve the complaint by conciliation.

The complaint was resolved. The respondent apologised to the complainant, saying that the comment was not nice, was inappropriate and that he should have known better.

The complainant is 16 years of age and has dyslexia, and has difficulty with working memory, auditory processing, reading, and spelling. She alleged the respondent education standards authority declined her requests for adjustments to accommodate her disability during year 12 exams.

The authority advised that the decision to decline the complainant’s original application for adjustments was overturned on appeal. The authority advised there was miscommunication about the appeal between the authority and the complainant’s school.

The complaint was resolved. The complainant was granted the use of a computer with voice-to-text software and with timed breaks during exams.

 

The complainant said that she and her partner attended the respondent night club and they were both wearing flat leather open toed shoes. The complainant said her partner was told he was not allowed to enter because his footwear was inappropriate but she was told ‘you're a girl so your shoes are okay’. She said when she complained that this policy amounted to discrimination she was told she could not enter either.

On being advised of the complaint, the nightclub indicated a willingness to participate in conciliation to try to resolve the complaint. 

The complaint was resolved. The nightclub and the staff member who refused the complainant and her partner entry wrote to the complainant apologising for the incident. The nightclub also updated its dress code policy to remove references to sex or gender.

The complainant has a psychosocial disability and applied for a role in a remote location with the respondent mining company. She said she began an onboarding process but was then told her application was unsuccessful after she made the company aware of her mental health history. She claimed she was not given feedback on her application.

On being advised of the complaint, the mining company indicated a willingness to try to resolve the complaint by conciliation.

The complaint was resolved with an agreement that the mining company pay the complainant $6,000 and write to her expressing regret for the events giving rise to the complaint. The company also agreed to delete any health and medical information it held about the complainant.

The complainant is Deaf. She enrolled in a face-to-face class which was later delivered virtually due to Covid-19. She alleged the teacher declined her request to explain and then demonstrate artistic practices, saying this would take too long. She also said the teacher suggested she wait until face-to-face classes became available once more. The complainant said she was unable to enrol in the class because it would not be accessible to her.

On being advised of the complaint, the respondent indicated a desire to try to resolve the complaint by conciliation.

The complaint was resolved with an agreement that the respondent offer the complainant three one-hour private virtual art classes with an Auslan interpreter, valued at $450.

 

The complainant’s son has fragile X syndrome and an intellectual disability and needs assistance when handling money, paying bills and accessing his bank account. The complainant had been assisting her son with his banking at the respondent bank and claimed the bank told her that third-party authorisation would continue after he turned 18. She alleged that when her son turned 18, the bank would no longer permit her to access his account or banking details.

The bank said it allowed access to the account of a customer (whether child or adult) with disability to a relevant authorised person. When a person with disability turned 18, the authorisation was removed for their parent/guardian. If reinstating the authorisation was necessary (for example, if the customer with disability cannot manage their own finances) this could be done with the appropriate legal authority (for example, a financial management order). The bank denied discriminating against the complainant or her son, but said it was sorry that their banking experience did not meet their expectations.

The complaint was resolved with an agreement that the bank pay the complainant’s son $3,500 in compensation for his poor customer experience.

 

The complainant’s daughter has chromosomal duplication (which affects her ability to handwrite), dyspraxia, inattentive attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, poor auditory memory and week short term memory. The complainant said her daughter’s school applied to the respondent education standards authority for adjustments to accommodate her disability during end of year 12 exams. The complainant claimed her daughter was granted small group supervision and rest breaks, but not use of a computer. She alleged this refusal was discriminatory because it would prevent her daughter from performing at her best.

The authority denied discriminating against the complainant’s daughter but indicated a willingness to participate in conciliation.

The complaint was resolved. On being provided with additional information about the complainant’s daughter’s disability and need for adjustment, the authority approved the use of a computer for the exams.

The complainant is blind and requires sighted assistance to fill out and sign print application forms. He said that he requested assistance from the respondent bank to fill out an investment growth bond application form and was told he would be charged a fee of $2,600. 

The bank said there had been miscommunication on the issue and explained the fee quoted to the complainant was a fee for financial advice and not for assistance to fill out an investment growth application form.  

The complaint was resolved with an agreement that the bank pay the complainant $6,000 as general damages.  

The complainant’s son has Autism Spectrum Disorder and has an assistance dog to help him manage the effects of his disability. She alleged the respondent motel refused a booking for the family if her son was accompanied by his assistance dog. 

On being notified of the complaint, the motel agreed to participate in a conciliation process. 

The complaint was resolved after the motel acknowledged its obligations with respect to guests with assistance animals under anti-discrimination laws and updated its website to say that guests with assistance animals are welcome.

The complainant was a public housing tenant. She alleged she was not offered interpreting services and was therefore unable to raise concerns about her housing, including the behaviour of neighbours.

The relevant government department confirmed there had been difficulties associated with providing the complainant with an interpreter but denied this constituted racial discrimination.

The complaint was resolved with an agreement that the complainant would be offered a different apartment on a top floor in order to avoid potential problems with neighbours.

 

The complainant applied for a coordinator position with the respondent retirement village. She alleged the recruitment officer asked her if she had children and commented that a staff member with children sometimes took time off due to the needs of the children.

On being advised of the complaint, the retirement village indicated a willingness to try to resolve the complaint by conciliation.

The complaint was resolved with an agreement that the retirement village write to the complainant apologising for the incident, develop a policy on equality of opportunity in employment and ensure staff are aware of the policy. The retirement village also undertook that its staff would not ask similar questions in future recruitment processes.

The complainant was employed as a sales representative with the respondent telecommunications company. She alleged the CEO made inappropriate comments of a sexual nature, including about her clothes, her sex-life and menopause. She alleged the CEO’s conduct contributed to a sexually hostile working environment.

The respondents denied the allegations but agreed to participate in a conciliation process.

The complainant was made redundant prior to the conciliation conference. The complaint was resolved with an agreement that the company pay the complainant $73,000.