Sex Discrimination Act 1984
Act of the Parliament of Australia
The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 is an Act of the Parliament of Australia which prohibits discrimination on the basis of mainly sexism, homophobia, transphobia and biphobia, but also sex, marital or relationship status, actual or potential pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status or breastfeeding in a range of areas of public life. These areas include work, accommodation, education, the provision of goods, facilities and services, the activities of clubs and the administration of Commonwealth laws and programs. The Australian Human Rights Commission investigates alleged breaches of the Act. The office of Sex Discrimination Commissioner, created in 1984 alongside the Act, is a specialist commissioner within the AHRC.
This legislation was pushed and supported by the Bill put forward by South Australia's Premier, Don Dunstan in 1975.
The Act implements Australia's obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women which came into force in September 1981 and which Australia ratified in July 1983, subject to several reservations and declarations, the main one relating to paid maternity leave. The Act also gives effect to parts of International Labour Organization Convention 156 which concerns workers with family responsibilities.
Provisions
The full scope of the Act is covered principally by Section 3B, which seeks "to eliminate, so far as is possible, discrimination against persons on the ground of sex, marital status, pregnancy or potential pregnancy in the areas of work, accommodation, education, the provision of goods, facilities and services, the disposal of land, the activities of clubs and the administration of Commonwealth laws and programs". This may include provision of public services, dismissal of employees with family responsibilities and to eliminate sexual harassment in areas of public activity. However, it equally applies to sex based discrimination on topics such as domestic violence, where there is no justification for sex differentiation for victims of violence.
The Act also seeks to create recognition and acceptance within the community of the principle of the equality of men and women.
“Sex Discrimination Act 1984” enters the record as act of the Parliament of Australia. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Discrimination, Parliament and Australia can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7458378. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1984, 1975, 1981 and 1983.
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This entry incorporates text from “Sex Discrimination Act 1984” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.