Sign our petition

Do you support increasing:

1) awareness of discrimination in the workplace; and

2) opportunities for people to make discrimination claims?

Sign our petition with the following two goals. Your name and message of support will be included in JobWatch advocacy efforts with state and federal governments.

Goal #1: Time limits for state discrimination claims to be increased to 24 months

The current 12-month timeframe fails to recognise the complex reasons for an applicant’s delay in making a complaint immediately after an alleged incident of pregnancy discrimination, which can include:

• the impact of the harassment on their mental state
• fear of victimization
• lack of awareness of their legal rights
• where they are awaiting the outcome of an internal workplace investigation
• the life upheaval associated with pregnancy, childbirth and parenting

Further, complainants are often reluctant to report an incident of pregnancy discrimination while they are still employed, especially if they are relying on their employment to access parental leave benefits.

For some complainants, the knowledge that their claim may be rejected because it is outside the time limit is enough to prevent them from making a claim at all.

Aligning the time limits for discrimination claims in the state jurisdiction to the 24 months of the federal jurisdiction creates consistency, and gives greater opportunity to

Goal #2: Legislate a ‘Discrimination Information Statement’ to be provided to all employees on the commencement of a new job.

The ‘Fair Work Information Statement’ is legislated into the National Employment Standards of the Fair Work Act 2009, requiring all employers to inform their employees of their rights when they first start a new job. The information relating to discrimination in the current Fair Work Information Statement is minimal and insufficient given the extent to which it happens in workplaces.

JobWatch recommends that the Fair Work Ombudsman be responsible for creating a more comprehensive ‘Discrimination Information Statement’ which will be required to be provided to all employees when they commence employment with a new employer. This Statement can be provided at the same time as, or otherwise incorporated into, the ‘Fair Work Information Statement’.