Identified Positions
Identified positions are positions where an employer may identify that a position is to be filled only by a person with a particular attribute. This might mean an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander applicant, a person with a disability, a person of a particular sex or a person of a particular age.
Identified positions help people who experience disadvantage to access equal opportunity in employment. Identified positions also benefit employers by allowing them to hire a person with particular experiences and expertise, such as cultural knowledge.
Example: A community store services a customer base with many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The community store decides to advertise an identified position for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person.
A position identified for people of a particular age can be lawful if it provides a genuine benefit to people of a particular age.
It can also be lawful to discriminate in order to achieve substantive equality between men and women, people of different marital status and between women who are or may become pregnant and women who are not.
A position identified for people of a particular racial background, such as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people, can be lawful if it is taken for the sole purpose of advancement of a certain racial or ethnic group to ensure those individuals’ equal enjoyment of human rights.
An employer may also seek a temporary exemption to allow for an identified position where a position created is for a person of a particular age, sex or a person with a disability and permanent exemptions do not apply.
