Home | Browse Topics | Individual rights & freedoms | Discrimination | Overview of the anti-discrimination laws

Individual rights & freedoms

Discrimination

Overview of the anti-discrimination laws

Discrimination is when you’re treated unfairly because, for example, you’re a woman, or Muslim or gay. But not all discrimination is against the law. This chapter explains when racist, homophobic or other bigoted behaviour is illegal and what you can do about it if it is illegal.

Unfair treatment will be illegal if:

  • it’s done because of certain reasons covered by the Human Rights Act – like your race or country of origin, or your gender identity or your sexual orientation, and
  • it happens in an area of public life covered by those laws – like when you’re applying for a job, renting a flat, buying things from shops, or dealing with government departments. See below, “How to work out whether how you were treated was illegal”.

If you believe you’ve been discriminated against, you can complain to the Human Rights Commission. If you can’t resolve the problem with their help, your complaint could go to the Human Rights Review Tribunal. This Tribunal is like a court, and it can make various orders against the other person to put right what happened to you. In some cases, the Tribunal can tell them to pay you money (“damages”).

As well as making discrimination illegal in many cases, the anti-discrimination laws in the Human Rights Act specifically ban sexual and racial harassment, and they also ban people from “inciting racial disharmony”.

How to work out whether how you were treated was illegal

If you think you’ve been treated unfairly, you need to answer several key questions to work out whether what the other person did was against the law:

1. Why did they do it? – Did they do it because of a reason (a “ground”) covered by the anti-discrimination laws, like your country of origin? (These grounds are explained in this chapter under “Race, gender and other illegal grounds of discrimination”.)

2. When and where did they do it? – Did it happen in one of the areas of public life covered by the anti-discrimination laws, like applying for a flat? (These are explained in this chapter under “Jobs, shops, flats and other areas of life where discrimination is illegal”.)

3. What was the result? – Were you disadvantaged in some way by what happened? For example, were you turned down for a flat?

4. Are they allowed to do it because of a special exception? – Is there an exception in the anti-discrimination laws that makes the discrimination legal when it would otherwise have been illegal? For example, you can be refused a flat on certain grounds if the landlord would also have been living in the flat.

If the unfair treatment was because of an illegal ground, and it happened in one of those areas of public life, and you were disadvantaged, and there’s not an exception in your case, then the discrimination was illegal. You can then take action, starting by complaining to the Human Rights Commission (see “Taking action: What you can do if you’re discriminated against” in this chapter).

Does it make a difference if the discrimination was by a government organisation?

No, usually it doesn’t make any difference. Discrimination is against the law whether it’s by private businesses, organisations and individuals (this is covered by the Human Rights Act 1993), or by government departments and officials or other public bodies like schools (covered by the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990). There are however some special rules and exceptions that apply to discrimination by government bodies. See below, “Government bodies, public services, and schools”.

Indirect discrimination is also illegal

Human Rights Act 1993, s 65

Discrimination can be direct or indirect, and both kinds are illegal. Direct discrimination would be where, for example, your employer pays you less because you’re a woman. Indirect discrimination, on the other hand, is where what happened doesn’t seem to breach the anti-discrimination laws on a first look but in practice it has the effect of discriminating in a way that’s illegal. For example, if you use a wheelchair and some of your university lectures are on the fifth floor in a building without a lift, then this is indirect discrimination against you on the illegal ground of disability.

Another example of indirect discrimination could be if you’re unemployed and a power company refuses to accept you as a customer because you’re on a low income and can’t get a credit card. That could be indirect discrimination against unemployed people.

Did this answer your question?

Discrimination

Where to go for more support

Community Law

www.communitylaw.org.nz

Your local Community Law Centre can provide initial free legal advice and information.

Human Rights Commission

www.hrc.co.nz

Human Rights Commission InfoLine

Phone: 0800 496 877 (0800 4 YOUR RIGHTS)
Email: infoline@hrc.co.nz
Text enquiries: 0210 236 4253

A free phone and email information service that you can use for enquiries about your rights or to make a complaint under the Human Rights Act 1993.

Pamphlets

You can access pamphlets and fact sheets online or order hard copies from:
Phone: 0800 496 877
Email: resources@hrc.co.nz

Race Relations Commissioner

www.hrc.co.nz/your-rights/racial-discrimination

Phone: 0800 496 877

This section of the Human Rights Commission focuses specifically on ensuring people are not treated unfairly because of their race, ethnicity, skin colour or country of origin.

Human Rights Review Tribunal

www.justice.govt.nz/Tribunals/human-rights

This website provides information about the Tribunal and the hearing process and it also has forms, guides and information about fees.

Also available as a book

The Community Law Manual

The Manual contains over 1000 pages of easy-to-read legal info and comprehensive answers to common legal questions. From ACC to family law, health & disability, jobs, benefits & flats, Tāonga Māori, immigration and refugee law and much more, the Manual covers just about every area of community and personal life. It’s for people living in Aotearoa New Zealand (and their advocates) to help themselves.

Buy The Community Law Manual

Help the manual

We’re a small team that relies on the generosity of all our supporters. You can make a one-off donation or become a supporter by sponsoring the Manual for a community organisation near you. Every contribution helps us to continue updating and improving our legal information, year after year.

Donate Become a Supporter

Find the Answer to your Legal Question

back to top