Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Equal Opportunity Act 1995 - SECT 4

Definitions

4. Definitions



(1) In this Act-

accommodation includes-

   (a)  business premises;

   (b)  a house or flat;

   (c)  a hotel or motel;

   (d)  a boarding house or hostel;

   (e)  a caravan or caravan site;

   (f)  a mobile home or mobile home site;

   (g)  a camping site;

appointed member of the Commission means a member of the Commission other than
the Chief Conciliator;

attribute means an attribute in section 6;

breastfeeding includes the act of expressing milk;



carer means a person on whom another person is wholly or substantially
dependent for ongoing care and attention, other than a person who provides
that care and attention wholly or substantially on a commercial basis;

Chief Conciliator means the Chief Conciliator of the Commission;

child means a person under the age of 18 years;

club, except in section 78, means a social, recreational, sporting or
community service club, or a community service organisation-

   (a)  that occupies any Crown land; or

   (b)  that directly or indirectly receives any financial assistance from the
        State or a municipal council;

Commission means the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission
continued in existence by section 160;

complainant means a person who lodges a complaint or on whose behalf a
complaint is lodged;

complaint means a complaint lodged under section 105;

* * * * *







* * * * *





detriment includes humiliation and denigration;

discrimination has the meaning given in Part 2;

domestic partner of a person means a person to whom the person is not married
but with whom the person is living as a couple on a genuine domestic basis
(irrespective of gender);

educational authority means the person or body administering an educational
institution;

educational institution means a school, college, university or other
institution at which education or training is provided;

employee includes-

   (a)  a person employed under a contract of service, whether or not under a
        workplace agreement, employment agreement or award within the meaning
        of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 of the Commonwealth;

   (b)  a person employed under the Public Administration Act 2004 or
        appointed to a statutory office;

   (c)  a person engaged under a contract for services;

   (d)  a person who is engaged to perform any work the remuneration for which
        is based wholly or partly on commission- but does not include an
        unpaid worker or volunteer;

employer includes-

   (a)  a person who employs another person under a contract of service,
        whether or not under a workplace agreement, employment agreement or
        award within the meaning of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 of the
        Commonwealth;

   (b)  a person who engages another person under a contract for services;

   (c)  a person who engages another person to perform any work the
        remuneration for which is based wholly or partly on commission- but
        does not include a person who employs another person on an unpaid or
        voluntary basis;

employment includes-

   (a)  employment under a contract of service, whether or not under a
        workplace agreement, employment agreement or award within the meaning
        of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 of the Commonwealth;

   (b)  employment under the Public Administration Act 2004 or under a
        statutory appointment;

   (c)  engagement under a contract for services;

   (d)  work that is remunerated wholly or partly on commission- but does not
        include work on a voluntary or unpaid basis;

employment agent means a person who carries on a business of providing
services for the purpose of finding employment for people seeking to be
employed or procuring employees for people seeking to employ them, or both;

enactment means a rule, regulation, by-law, local law, order, Order in
Council, proclamation or other instrument of a legislative character;

expedited complaint means a complaint that has been expedited under section
119 or 121;

firm has the same meaning as in the Partnership Act 1958;

gender identity means-

   (a)  the identification on a bona fide basis by a person of one sex as a
        member of the other sex (whether or not the person is recognised as
        such)-

   (i)  by assuming characteristics of the other sex, whether by means of
        medical intervention, style of dressing or otherwise; or

   (ii) by living, or seeking to live, as a member of the other sex; or



   (b)  the identification on a bona fide basis by a person of indeterminate
        sex as a member of a particular sex (whether or not the person is
        recognised as such)-

   (i)  by assuming characteristics of that sex, whether by means of medical
        intervention, style of dressing or otherwise; or

   (ii) by living, or seeking to live, as a member of that sex;

guide dog means a dog that is trained to assist a person who has a visual,
hearing or mobility impairment;

home, in relation to a person, means a private residence of that person;

impairment means-

   (a)  total or partial loss of a bodily function;

   (b)  the presence in the body of organisms that may cause disease;

   (c)  total or partial loss of a part of the body;

   (d)  malfunction of a part of the body, including-

   (i)  a mental or psychological disease or disorder;

   (ii) a condition or disorder that results in a person learning more slowly
        than people who do not have that condition or disorder;

   (e)  malformation or disfigurement of a part of the body; industrial
        activity means-

   (a)  being or not being a member of, or joining, not joining or refusing to
        join, an industrial organisation or industrial association;

   (b)  establishing or being involved in establishing an industrial
        organisation or forming or being involved in forming an industrial
        association;

   (c)  organising or promoting or proposing to organise or promote a lawful
        activity on behalf of an industrial organisation or industrial
        association;

   (d)  encouraging, assisting, participating in or proposing to encourage,
        assist or participate in a lawful activity organised or promoted by an
        industrial organisation or industrial association;

   (e)  not participating in or refusing to participate in a lawful activity
        organised or promoted by an industrial organisation or industrial
        association;

   (f)  representing or advancing the views, claims or interests of members of
        an industrial organisation or industrial association; industrial
        association means a group of employees or employers, formed formally
        or informally to represent or advance the views, claims or interests
        of the employees or employers in a particular industry, trade,
        profession, business or employment, not including an industrial
        organisation; industrial organisation means-

   (a)  an organisation of employees;

   (b)  an organisation of employers;

   (c)  any other organisation established for the purposes of people who
        carry on a particular industry, trade, profession, business or
        employment- registered or recognised under a State or Commonwealth
        enactment;

lawful sexual activity means engaging in, not engaging in or refusing to
engage in a lawful sexual activity; lawyer means an Australian lawyer within
the meaning of the Legal Profession Act 2004;



marital status means a person's status of being-

   (a)  single;

   (b)  married;

   (c)  a domestic partner;

   (d)  married but living separately and apart from his or her spouse;

   (e)  divorced;

   (f)  widowed;

* * * * *





occupational qualification means an authorisation or qualification that is
needed for, or facilitates-

   (a)  the practice of a profession;

   (b)  the carrying on of a trade or business;

   (c)  the engaging in of any other occupation or employment;

parent includes-

   (a)  step-parent;

   (b)  adoptive parent;

   (c)  foster parent;

   (d)  guardian;

parental status means the status of being a parent or not being a parent;



party, in relation to a complaint, means the complainant or the respondent;



person includes an unincorporated association and, in relation to a natural
person, means a person of any age;

physical features means a person's height, weight, size or other bodily
characteristics;

political belief or activity means-

   (a)  holding or not holding a lawful political belief or view;

   (b)  engaging in, not engaging in or refusing to engage in a lawful
        political activity;

President means the President of the Tribunal;

* * * * *





qualifying body means a person or body that is empowered to confer, renew or
extend an occupational qualification;

race includes-

   (a)  colour;

   (b)  descent or ancestry;

   (c)  nationality or national origin;

   (d)  ethnicity or ethnic origin;

   (e)  if 2 or more distinct races are collectively referred to as a race-

   (i)  each of those distinct races;

   (ii) that collective race;

* * * * *





relative, in relation to a person, means-

   (a)  a spouse or domestic partner of that person;

   (b)  a parent or grandparent of that person or of a spouse or domestic
        partner of that person;

   (c)  a child (whether or not under the age of 18 years) or grandchild of
        that person or of a spouse or domestic partner of that person;

   (d)  a brother or sister of that person or of a spouse or domestic partner
        of that person;

   (e)  a child (whether or not under the age of 18 years) of a brother or
        sister of that person or of a brother or sister of a spouse or
        domestic partner of that person;

   (f)  a child (whether or not under the age of 18 years) of a brother or
        sister of a parent of that person or of a brother or sister of a
        parent of a spouse or domestic partner of that person;

religious belief or activity means-

   (a)  holding or not holding a lawful religious belief or view;

   (b)  engaging in, not engaging in or refusing to engage in a lawful
        religious activity;

respondent means a person about whom a complaint has been lodged under section
105;

services includes, without limiting the generality of the word-

   (a)  access to and use of any place that members of the public are
        permitted to enter;

   (b)  banking services, the provision of loans or finance, financial
        accommodation, credit guarantees and insurance;

   (c)  provision of entertainment, recreation or refreshment;

   (d)  services connected with transportation or travel;

   (e)  services of any profession, trade or business, including those of an
        employment agent;

   (f)  services provided by a government department, public authority, State
        owned enterprise or municipal council- but does not include education
        or training in an educational institution;

sexual orientation means homosexuality (including lesbianism), bisexuality or
heterosexuality;



spouse of a person means a person to whom the person is married;



State owned enterprise has the same meaning as in the
State Owned Enterprises Act 1992;

terms includes conditions;

Tribunal means Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal established by the
Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998.



(2) For the purposes of the definition of domestic partner in subsection (1),
in determining whether persons are domestic partners of each other, all the
circumstances of their relationship are to be taken into account, including
any one or more of the matters referred to in section 275(2) of the
Property Law Act 1958 as may be relevant in a particular case.

(3) A reference in the definition of employee, employer or employment in
subsection (1) to a workplace agreement within the meaning of the
Workplace Relations Act 1996 of the Commonwealth includes a reference to an
Australian Workplace Agreement or a certified agreement within the meaning of
that Act as in force immediately before 27 March 2006.