Compilation #9 | Effective 2018-06-19
FRBR Work URI: /akn/au/act/1987/20
This Act may be cited as the Equal Employment (Commonwealth Authorities) Act 1987.
This Act shall come into operation on a day to be fixed by Proclamation.
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
authority means:
an incorporated or unincorporated body or authority established for a public purpose:
by an Act or by regulations made under an Act; or
by or under a law of a Territory (other than a law of the or the );
being a body whose staff consists of, or includes, persons who are not APS employees; or
a company or other body corporate incorporated under a law of the Commonwealth, of a State or of a Territory, being a company or body corporate in which the Commonwealth has a controlling interest;
but does not include a relevant employer Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012.as defined in section 3 of the
designated group means any of the following classes of persons: members of the Aboriginal race of or persons who are descendants of indigenous inhabitants of the ; persons who have migrated to and whose first language is not English, and the children of such persons; persons with a physical or mental disability; any other class of persons prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition.
members of the Aboriginal race of or persons who are descendants of indigenous inhabitants of the ;
persons who have migrated to and whose first language is not English, and the children of such persons;
persons with a physical or mental disability;
any other class of persons prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition.
discrimination means:
(a) discrimination that is unlawful under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 or the Sex Discrimination Act 1984; or
discrimination by which a person with a physical or mental disability is, because of the disability, treated less favourably than a person without the disability.
employee means a natural person appointed or engaged: under a contract of service, whether on a full-time, part-time, casual or temporary basis; or under a contract for services. employment matters includes: recruitment procedure, and selection criteria, for appointment or engagement of persons as employees; promotion and transfer of employees; training and staff development for employees; and conditions of service of employees.
under a contract of service, whether on a full-time, part-time, casual or temporary basis; or
under a contract for services.
employment matters includes:
recruitment procedure, and selection criteria, for appointment or engagement of persons as employees;
promotion and transfer of employees;
training and staff development for employees; and
conditions of service of employees.
operative day means the day specified in relation to that authority in subsection 5(2).
overseas means outside .
program means an equal employment opportunity program designed to ensure that appropriate action is taken by the authority: to eliminate discrimination by it against; and to promote equal opportunity for; women and persons in designated groups in relation to employment matters.
to eliminate discrimination by it against; and
to promote equal opportunity for;
women and persons in designated groups in relation to employment matters.
relevant authority means an authority that employs 40 or more employees in .
responsible Minister, for a relevant authority, means:
if the regulations prescribe a Minister as responsible for the authority—that Minister; or
otherwise—the Minister responsible for the authority.
trade union means:
(a) an organisation of employees registered pursuant to the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009; or
a trade union within the meaning of a State Act or law of a Territory.
woman means a member of the female sex irrespective of age.
A reference to discrimination in relation to employment matters does not include a reference to discrimination that:
is essential for the effective performance of the duties to which the employment matters relate; and
(b) is not unlawful under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 or the Sex Discrimination Act 1984.
For the purposes of this Act, an authority employs an employee in if the contract, by which the employee is appointed or engaged, is made in , notwithstanding that the employee may perform duties overseas.
Nothing in this Act shall be taken to require any action incompatible with the principle that employment matters should be dealt with on the basis of merit.
A relevant authority shall commence the development and implementation of a program on the operative day.
The operative day is:
in relation to an authority that is a relevant authority on 1 July 1987 or such later day as is prescribed—that day or that later day; and
in any other case—the day on which an authority becomes a relevant authority.
A reference in paragraph (2)(b) to an authority becoming a relevant authority on a particular day includes a reference to an authority that comes into existence on that day.
Where, at any time, an authority ceases to be a relevant authority because the number of employees employed by it in Australia falls below 40, this Act continues to apply to the authority as if the authority was a relevant authority unless and until the number of employees employed by it in Australia falls below 30.
Without limiting the generality of the definition of program in subsection 3(1), the program of a relevant authority shall provide for action to be taken:
to inform employees of the contents of the program and of the results of any monitoring and evaluation of the program under paragraph (h);
to confer responsibility for the development and implementation of the program (including a continuous review of the program), on a person or persons having sufficient authority and status within the management of the relevant authority to enable the person or persons properly to develop and implement the program;
to consult with each trade union having members affected by the proposal for the development and implementation of the program in accordance with this Act;
to consult with employees of the relevant authority, particularly employees who are women or persons in designated groups;
for the collection and recording of statistics and related information concerning employment by the relevant authority, including the number of, and the types of jobs undertaken by, or job classifications of:
employees of either sex; and
persons in designated groups;
to consider policies, and examine practices, of the relevant authority, in relation to employment matters to identify:
any policies or practices that discriminate against women or persons in designated groups; and
any patterns (whether ascertained statistically or otherwise) of lack of equality of opportunity in respect of women or persons in designated groups;
to set:
the particular objectives to be achieved by the program; and
the quantitative and other indicators against which the effectiveness of the program is to be assessed;
to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the program and:
to assess the achievement of those objectives; and
to assess the effectiveness of the program by comparing statistics and information collected and recorded under paragraph (e) with the indicators against which the effectiveness of the program is to be assessed.
A relevant authority shall take any action necessary to give effect to its program and any person who exercises powers in relation to employment matters in the authority shall have regard to the program in exercising those powers.
A relevant authority shall:
(a) prepare a report (in this section called a program report) on the development and implementation of its program during each period of 12 months commencing on the operative day in relation to the authority or the anniversary of that day; and
lodge the report with the responsible Minister within 3 months after the end of the period to which the report relates.
A program report shall provide, in respect of the period to which it relates:
a detailed analysis of the action taken by the relevant authority to develop and implement its program;
the assessments referred to in paragraph 6(h); and
particulars of each direction given by the Minister under section 12.
Where a relevant authority has lodged a program report with the responsible Minister, that Minister:
shall, if the report fails to satisfy the requirements of this Act, by notice in writing, request the authority to lodge a further report, within such period as is specified in the notice; and
shall, if the report or further report, as the case may be, satisfies the requirements of this Act, cause a copy of the report or further report to be laid before each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the day on which that Minister receives the report or further report.
If:
a relevant authority is required by an Act other than this Act to prepare an annual report for presentation to the Parliament; and
the annual report is lodged with the responsible Minister within 3 months after the end of the period to which a program report relates;
then the authority may, with the consent of the responsible Minister, include that program report in the annual report.
Where an authority ceases to be a relevant authority, this section continues to apply, in relation to the final period, as if:
references to the relevant authority were references to the authority; and
a reference to a period of 12 months were a reference to the final period.
(6) In subsection (5), final period means the period beginning on the last anniversary of the operative day before the day on which the authority ceased to be a relevant authority and ending on that day.
The responsible Minister may, by notice in writing to a relevant authority, require the authority to give the responsible Minister a special report within the time specified in the notice.
(2) In this section, special report means a report in writing (other than a report under section 9) in relation to the development, implementation or review of the program of the authority.
A notice under sub-section (1) may specify the particular aspects of the program of the authority that are to be dealt with in the special report.
Where a relevant authority has lodged a special report with the responsible Minister, that Minister shall cause a copy of the report to be laid before each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the day on which he or she receives the report.
After considering a report lodged by a relevant authority under this Part, the responsible Minister may make a recommendation in writing to the authority regarding the action to be taken by the authority to improve the effectiveness of its program.
If the authority does not concur in or adopt a recommendation made under subsection (1), the authority must, within a reasonable time, inform the responsible Minister in writing of the authority’s reasons for not concurring in or adopting the recommendation.
The responsible Minister for a relevant authority may give general directions in writing to the authority about the performance of the authority’s obligations under this Act.
Where, under an Act other than this Act, a relevant authority submits a corporate plan to its responsible Minister, that Minister may have regard to that authority’s obligations under this Act and, if that Minister considers that the corporate plan should be revised for the purposes of giving effect to those obligations, shall direct the authority in writing to revise the corporate plan accordingly.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), corporate plan means a plan, however described, prepared by the relevant authority defining the principal objectives of the authority and outlining the policies or strategies to be pursued by the authority in achieving those objectives.
The Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, prescribing matters:
required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed; or
necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.
Endnotes
Endnote 1—About the endnotes
The endnotes provide information about this compilation and the compiled law.
The following endnotes are included in every compilation:
Endnote 1—About the endnotes
Endnote 2—Abbreviation key
Endnote 3—Legislation history
Endnote 4—Amendment history
Abbreviation key—Endnote 2
The abbreviation key sets out abbreviations that may be used in the endnotes.
Legislation history and amendment history—Endnotes 3 and 4
Amending laws are annotated in the legislation history and amendment history.
The legislation history in endnote 3 provides information about each law that has amended (or will amend) the compiled law. The information includes commencement details for amending laws and details of any application, saving or transitional provisions that are not included in this compilation.
The amendment history in endnote 4 provides information about amendments at the provision (generally section or equivalent) level. It also includes information about any provision of the compiled law that has been repealed in accordance with a provision of the law.
Editorial changes
The Legislation Act 2003 authorises First Parliamentary Counsel to make editorial and presentational changes to a compiled law in preparing a compilation of the law for registration. The changes must not change the effect of the law. Editorial changes take effect from the compilation registration date.
If the compilation includes editorial changes, the endnotes include a brief outline of the changes in general terms. Full details of any changes can be obtained from the Office of Parliamentary Counsel.
Misdescribed amendments
A misdescribed amendment is an amendment that does not accurately describe the amendment to be made. If, despite the misdescription, the amendment can be given effect as intended, the amendment is incorporated into the compiled law and the abbreviation “(md)” added to the details of the amendment included in the amendment history.
If a misdescribed amendment cannot be given effect as intended, the abbreviation “(md not incorp)” is added to the details of the amendment included in the amendment history.
Endnote 2—Abbreviation key
Endnote 3—Legislation history
Endnote 4—Amendment history