Within the UK there is specific legislation on equality that outlaws discrimination and provides the mechanisms for individuals to address issues through the courts when they experience unlawful discrimination. At the present time, the legislation focuses on specific areas of equality and as such there are a number of different Acts in place i.e. The Race Relations Act 1976, The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and, of course, Disability Discrimination Act 1995. However, during this year changes will take place that will result in all the equality strands being dealt with under one new Act – The Equality Act 2010.
This fundamental change will mean that existing legislation will no longer apply. Many people seem to be unaware of the changes and the impact it will have. Most people have a generalised understanding of The Race Relations Act 1976 or The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 but very few understand the intricate measures that are addressed by the lesser known Acts such as The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 or Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006. It may be that these lesser known Acts lose some of their identity when encompassed within the new Equality Act and we need to ensure that this is not the case.
The Equality Act itself was passed through Parliament on 6th April 2010 and received Royal Assent on 8th April 2010. The time line for introduction of the Equality Act 2010 is as follows:
October 2010: the main provisions of the Equality Act will become law and the DDA will no longer have the force of law.
April 2011: the integrated public sector Equality Duty, the Socio-economic Duty and dual discrimination protection apply.
2012: the ban on age discrimination in provision of goods, facilities, services and public functions applies.
2013: the private and voluntary sector gender pay transparency regulations (if required) and political parties publishing diversity data applies.
In the meantime, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) and other existing legislation still effectively applies until October 2010. Don’t let ignorance be an excuse – take a little time to find out how the changes to the existing legislation will impact on every aspect of life within the UK.
Should you wish to find out more about the new Equality Act 2010 feel free to contact Oisin@dpconsulting.org.uk who will be happy to provide details of workshops currently being run to enhance your understanding of the Equality Act and its application.
2 comments:
It would be a shame if some of the strands of equality got lost in favour of the more well known ones.
I agree, I think the current equalities body focuses alot on Racial equality and has forgotten that it was originally made up of 3 commissions (Racial, Disability and Equality). How often do you see Trevor Phillips on TV discussing disability equality?!?
Lets hope the new act works for all groups that face discrimination not just the popular ones!
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