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how do 'ladies only' gyms, get around discrimination laws in australia?
what about 'pensioners only' or 'over 50's' insurance companies?
to Kenny - this is off an Australian Law site.
Where is sex discrimination against the law?
Sex discrimination is against the law in the following situations:
in employment — when you apply for a job, at any time during your employment, or when you leave a job;
when you get, or try to get, most types of goods or services — for example, from shops, pubs and entertainment places, banks, lawyers, government departments, doctors and hospitals;
when you rent, or try to rent, accommodation — for example, a unit, house, commercial premises, hotel or motel room;
when you apply to get into, or are studying in any State education institution — including a government school, college, TAFE, or university. In the case of independent (private) educational institutions, sexual harassment is against the law but sex discrimination is not against the law; and
when you try to enter, join or get services from a registered club — this includes any club that sells alcohol
4 Answers
- kheperureLv 41 decade agoFavourite answer
Most if not all women-only gyms and other companies which provide services exclusively based on an attribute which is protected against discrimination do so legally through the use of exemptions.
The legislative scheme in Australia overlaps somewhat between the Commonwealth and the States, but in both cases as far as I can tell, the relevant legislation authorises a statutory body, like the Anti-Discrimination Board in NSW or HREOC at the Commonwealth level, to grant exemptions, or to make recommendations to the relevant Minister to grant exemptions. Ministers will generally follow the advice of the Board in this regard.
These recommendations or exemptions will be granted according to policy guidelines, which are sometimes found in the legislation (I haven't investigated that far, it maybe best to check if you're interested). These usually include the social utility of providing exclusive areas for people who have been discriminated against elsewhere, e.g. clubs which discriminate positively in favour of homosexual patrons, or as in your example, gyms for women only.
For insurance companies, there is a exception in the Commonwealth Age Discrimination Act -- they are allowed to discriminate based on actuarial reasons for doing so. However those companies which provide insurance "only" to over 50's discriminate only in an illusory manner, since many are wholly owned subsidiaries, or trading names of large insurance firms. They are used to pursue market segments, e.g. Australian Pensioners Insurance Agency, and Justcar Insurance are both owned by AAMI. Therefore, I'm not certain they would be "caught" in the legislation.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
Because it's a PRIVATE company. It's not ran by the Government. What about AARP? Since I am not at that age limit, I do not get discounts. What about restaurants giving discounts to senior citizens? Is that discrimination?
Like I mentioned before, as long as it is a private owned company, there is nothing wrong with it.
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- Anonymous1 decade ago
It is very odd, I've often wondered why it is so myself. I think for some reason that society seems to think that women can't be sexist, certain races can't be racist, etc, etc, etc, for fear of upsetting certain groups. It really just doesn't seem fair. As a woman, I find it extremely frustrating that women can have women-only gyms, but men can't do the same. What's ok for us should be ok for them. I really don't care if men have men-only gyms or whatever, that's fine.
