Northern Territory Anti-Discrimination Commission
Diversity

Discrimination

Everyone has the right to equal opportunity. Discrimination happens when you are treated unfairly on the grounds of attributes like race, sex or age. But it’s only against the law in the Northern Territory if the unfair treatment happens in certain areas of life, such as work and accessing goods, services and facilities. If this happens, you can:

Under the Northern Territory Anti-Discrimination Act 1992, unlawful discrimination and unfair treatment is based on the following attributes:

  • race
  • sex
  • sexuality
  • age
  • pregnancy
  • parenthood
  • impairment
  • religious belief or activity
  • irrelevant medical record
  • marital status
  • breast feeding
  • trade union or employer association  activity
  • political opinion, affiliation or  activity
  • irrelevant criminal record
  • your details being published under section 66M of the Fines and Penalties (Recovery) Act 2001
  • association with a person who has, or  is believed to have one of these attributes.

As of 3 July 2023 protection will exist for the following attributes:

  • language, including sign language
  • gender identity
  • sex characteristics
  • accommodation status
  • employment status
  • employment in sex work or engaging in sex work including past employment in sex work or engagement in sex work
  • HIV/Hepatitis status
  • subject to domestic violence