Equal Time Winter 2010 page 17 of 18
Equal Time
Newsletter of the Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW
Number 80 Summer 2010
Contents
The year in review 2
Silly Season – be smart about it 4
Introducing the Board of the ADB 6
Legal developments 9
Conciliations 13
ADB Seminars 2011 16
ADB Posters 17
The Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW 18
From the President
The year in review
The Anti-Discrimination Board’s Annual Report was tabled in Parliament on 10 November. Stepan Kerkyasharian outlines the major developments of 2009–10
The Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW has continued its good work in 2009–10. Our main ongoing activities reflect our statutory obligations to handle complaints and to inform people about their rights and responsibilities under anti-discrimination law.
The first step for many people experiencing discrimination is to consult the Board’s website. Our clear and attractive website contains a wide range of information which quickly enables people to understand their rights and responsibilities in specific areas. Tellingly, our main page on ‘anti-discrimination law’ received more than 66,000 hits last year – over twice the number of any other page on the site.
Others feel more comfortable phoning our Enquiry Service, which can also provide advice about more complex situations and suggest other avenues to find assistance if the caller’s problem is not covered by anti-discrimination law. We still receive thousands of enquiries each year, although the numbers are gradually declining due to increased use of the website.
The number of complaints we received this year decreased slightly from 2008–09, although it was still more than 2007–08. Disability, sex (including sexual harassment) and race discrimination continue to be the most frequent grounds of complaint.
The conciliation team continues to achieve excellent results, with an average time of 6.1 months to finalise complaints, and 91% finalised within twelve months. I am particularly pleased with the efforts of our Conciliation Officers, who investigate and resolve some very complex cases with consummate skill and diplomacy.
The Board’s Education Service also continued its successful work in 2009-10, and our team of experienced trainers are well-respected for their lively, interactive presentations. However, bookings continued to be slow in the first half of the year due to the global financial crisis, and this impacted on the income of the workplace education program. Some training positions were held vacant during the year to cover this.
Community education is another vital aspect of the Board’s work, as it reaches people who may not otherwise be aware of anti-discrimination law. Groups our Community Education Officer worked with this year included young gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, people with a range of disabilities, and the Arabic, Vietnamese and Sudanese communities.
The Education Branch also ran our annual creative arts competition, this time to design a postcard about discrimination, bullying and harassment, with a focus on cyber-bullying. Despite a minimal publicity budget, we received some very strong entries, and the winning entry in particular was outstanding. We will publish the three winning entries as postcards in 2010–11.
This year the Board embarked on several additional strategies to raise awareness about the role of the Anti-Discrimination Board. The publications team developed new postcards with a succinct message, which were also used as the basis for advertisements in a range of publications, new graphics for our website, weblinks which were sent to other organisations and fridge magnets.
Publications staff also developed a new brochure containing simple information in 14 languages, which can be unfolded and used as a poster, as well as versions of the new postcard in five languages. All this new material has proved very popular. In addition, the team continued their ongoing work to revise older publications, as well as updating the website.
Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander team also continued its excellent work in 2009-10, although they were short-staffed for most of the year. As previously, the team worked with other agencies to provide joint information sessions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community workers and leaders, provided training for real estate agents and attended a number of fairs and information days.
We welcomed three new members to the Statutory Board in late 2009. Michael Christodoulou, Sigrid Patterson and Christine Regan all bring very valuable experience and insight to their role, and it has been my pleasure to begin working with them, along with ongoing member Peter Wertheim.
My thanks to all the Board’s staff, including our Legal Officers and Liaison and Support team, and to the members of our advisory committees. Thanks also to the Statutory Board for their advice during the year, and to Director General Laurie Glanfield and the senior management of the Attorney General’s Department for their support.
Stepan Kerkyasharian AM
The full Anti-Discrimination Board Annual Report is available on the ADB website:
www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/adb
Silly Season – be smart about it
The ‘Silly Season’ is upon us and Christmas celebrations are being planned. It is a time to celebrate but employers should be aware of the risks of complaints about sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination occurring because of employee behaviour at the office Christmas party.
Virtually everybody has a ‘humorous’ story about how so and so, after consuming too much alcohol at the office Christmas party, totally embarrassed themselves by revealing an aggressive or overly amorous side to their personality. Employers have a responsibility to make sure that the Christmas party doesn’t cause staff embarrassment or humiliation and expose their organisation to charges of sexual harassment and discrimination.
In most legal contexts the work Christmas party is considered part of the work environment. Employers must take steps to ensure that sexual harassment or offensive behaviour such as offensive jokes, inappropriate Christmas gifts or unwelcome touching, hugging or kissing do not occur.
This is not about being ‘politically correct’. It is about stopping behaviour that upsets or embarrasses people. Unwelcome touching or sexual comments, jokes or questions about someone’s relationships or sex life are harassment even if they only occur at the Christmas party.
Of course it is a matter of perception – what is ‘just a Christmas cuddle’ to one person can be deeply offensive or humiliating to another person.
To ensure Christmas parties are a real celebration and don’t end up in complaints of discrimination and harassment employers should understand that the Christmas party is an extension of work and OHS and anti-discimination laws still apply. An employer can be vicariously liable for any harassment that occurs at the staff party and they have the right to discipline an employee for engaging in sexually harassing or discriminatory behaviour at a work related function. Intoxication or overzealous Christmas spirit are not an excuse and are not a defence.
Anti-discrimination laws, codes of conduct and other workplace policies exist to ensure everyone can enjoy themselves free from harassment and discriminatory behaviour. Some steps employers can take to prevent inappropriate behaviour at the Christmas party include:
• reinforcing your EEO and harassment policies;
• reminding all staff about the standards of behaviour expected and the consequences of failing to maintain those standards;
• ensuring managers are aware of their responsibilities to address improper employee conduct at the earliest opportunity;
• setting guidelines for ‘Kris Kringle’ or ‘Secret Santa’ gifts, so that gifts are not offensive or sexual in nature;
• keeping consumption of alcohol to reasonable and responsible levels and make sure alternative low or non-alcoholic drinks are available;
• ensuring any entertainment provided is not offensive, sexist or racist and does not unfairly target particular individuals;
• making it clear when the work event ends;
• dealing with any complaints promptly and getting advice depending on the seriousness of the incident.
Introducing the Board of the ADB
Members of the statutory Anti-Discrimination Board play an important role in the implementation of anti-discrimination law in NSW, providing guidance in pursuing the Board’s statutory charter and promoting the objectives of the Anti-Discrimination Act.
There are four Board members plus the President, Stepan Kerkyasharian, as chair. In 2009 three new members were appointed to replace Philippa McDermott, Cameron Murphy and Suzanne Jamieson.
In the last issue of Equal Time we introduced Peter Wertheim, who has been a Board member since 2004, and one of the new members, Christine Regan. In this issue we profile Sigrid Patterson and in the next issue we will profile Michael Christodoulou.
Sigrid Patterson
As the Director of the NSW Office for Ageing, Sigrid Patterson is at the coal face of one of the biggest social issues facing Australia in the next few decades: the ageing of the population.
Sigrid’s role is to coordinate the development and implementation of the NSW government’s wide-ranging strategy to address this major change, entitled Towards 2030. The strategy has five main areas:
• planning for later life by developing more flexible living options;
• improving prevention and early intervention;
• facilitating ongoing workforce participation;
• facilitating participation in all aspects of society;
• providing quality care and support.
Sigrid came into health planning via youth work. Having grown up in outer western Sydney, she saw a position doing crisis work with street kids in the area that she thought would be interesting. “I got the job because I grew up there,” she said, “and then received training on the job, which I thoroughly enjoyed.”
However, her interests soon turned to the strategic level. ‘I think we spend a lot of time trying to fit people into society, and often what we need to do is make societal change to be inclusive of all,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t necessarily take more money, it’s about planning and being flexible with what you have.’
After moving to the North Coast of NSW for a youth refuge job, Sigrid managed a youth arts and entertainment centre for Byron Bay Council, then administered grants to non-government organisations for the Northern Rivers Area Health Service, and then began work in health planning for the Department of Health.
She also undertook academic study, firstly for a Bachelor of Arts, then a Graduate Certificate in Population, Health and Research Methods, and then a Masters in Public Health, specialising in epidemiology, health economics and bio-statistics.
A few years ago Sigrid moved to Cairns to work for the Far North Queensland Area Health service, where she was involved in planning the transfer of health services to local community control. She says this was a big learning experience, with a very different climate, an ageing non-Aboriginal population and a large Aboriginal population which ‘challenged all my assumptions about Indigenous needs’.
The Office for Ageing is based in Tweed Heads, and Sigrid has now lived on the North Coast for 20 years. At one stage she and her partner bought a 30-acre organic macadamia farm, but they found this more of a time-consuming challenge than they had expected, and now have a small acreage where they agist cattle.
She says it’s not a problem being based away from the city if you have the right technology such as videoconferencing facilities. The stakeholders in her work, such as service providers, government agencies and universities are spread throughout the state, so one base is as good as another to keep in contact with them all.
Sigrid believes that she can contribute a useful viewpoint to the Anti-Discrimination Board, as health planning is also about making our society equitable. ‘Maybe the Board could benefit from a human services perspective as well as a legal perspective,’ she said. ‘Discrimination is not a single narrative, and law alone won’t change it. It takes education, law, and critical thinking from different perspectives.’
Asked what she thinks are the important issues in terms of age discrimination, Sigrid says that many people make assumptions that stereotype older people. These affect them in employment, in the role they play in the community, and in the kind of services that are available to them. ‘The ageing of the population provides us with so many valuable opportunities, including a well-functioning, truly intergenerational society,’ she said.
To counter the stereotypes of older people, and in particular to address hidden discrimination, Sigrid believes a multi-faceted approach is necessary. This needs to include both positive media messages and specific projects such as the workforce retention roundtable that was recently hosted by the NSW Ministerial Advisory Committee on Ageing.
This roundtable identifies and passes on strategies that are successful in retaining older workers and addressing age discrimination, such as emphasising the value of experience, involving alumni, developing mentoring programs and having flexible work practices and transition to retirement schemes. ‘It’s really important to pass on skills and retain corporate knowledge,’ she said. ‘You need this even if the younger employees are very skilled.’
So far Sigrid’s experience on the board has lived up to her expectations. ‘The content is fascinating, and broader than I expected,’ she said. ‘I am impressed with the level of knowledge of the whole department, and I like that the Board members come from different backgrounds – it creates an area for very constructive debate.’
Legal developments
HIV/AIDS Vilification
The NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal has found that a gay couple from rural NSW were vilified after former friends threatened to shoot them and began telling town members they had AIDS. They are the first people to successfully sue under HIV vilification laws.
A solicitor for the HIV/AIDS Legal Centre, Melissa Woodroffe, who represented the pair, said the ruling was a legal landmark.
Following arguments about the 2007 elections, the applicants had a falling-out with two friends, who went on to physically and verbally threaten them.
The ADT specifically ruled over a series of comments and actions made at the local pub where the defendants loudly discussed wanting to get a gun to ‘rid this town of these filthy faggots’.
They also told locals not to sit with the men, or buy goods from the store where one worked because ‘they have AIDS, they belong in the gutter’.
The ADT agreed the comments were intended to incite hatred and ridicule. According to their solicitor ‘HIV vilification is really difficult to prove. ‘You need conduct that is in public and that incites hatred or contempt, which is unfortunately difficult to substantiate.’