Equal Opportunity Commission Annual Report 2015/16

Time Taken to Resolve Complaints

Of the 115 accepted complaints resolved in 2015-16, 16% were finalised within 4 months and 41% were finalised within 6 months. The average time taken for a complaint to be finalised was 7.6 months. By comparison, in 2014-15 the average accepted complaint resolution time was 5.1 months.
Staffing and financial constraints have had a direct impact on the EOC’s ability to maintain accepted complaint resolution times, particularly as the number of accepted complaints has increased by 40% from 91 in 2014-15 to 129 in 2015-16.
The EOC has set a priority action in its 2016-17 Business Plan to improve the timeliness and efficiency of complaint resolution processes, by reducing average accepted complaint resolution times to 5 months.

Feedback on Complaint Handling

The EOC seeks feedback from both complainants and respondents about their experience of our complaint handling process through a customer satisfaction survey. This examines performance indicators including the impartiality of the process, quality of information provided by the conciliator and overall satisfaction with the complaints process.

Of those who completed service evaluations, 75% of complainants and 100% of respondents were satisfied with the overall complaint handling process. All complainants and respondents felt that the complaints process was fair and impartial and that they were kept well informed.

Equal Opportunity Tribunal

The Equal Opportunity Tribunal has three core functions under the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (SA). The Tribunal is able to hear complaints referred by the Equal Opportunity Commissioner under section 95B of the Act and make determinations regarding applications for exemptions under section 92 of the Act.
Where the Commissioner has refused an application for an extension of time within which to lodge a complaint, the applicant may apply to the Tribunal for a review of the decision. In this circumstance, the Tribunal may confirm the decision of the Commissioner or substitute its own decision.
Not all matters that are referred to the Tribunal will come through the EOC. Applications for exemptions to the Act made under section 92 may be made to the Tribunal by the Commissioner or the applicant.

Exemptions Granted by the Equal Opportunity Tribunal 2015-16

The Tribunal can order an exemption of up to three years, and an organisation can lawfully discriminate according to the conditions of the exemption.
In 2015-16 the Equal Opportunity Tribunal granted an extension to an existing exemption:

Pembroke School Incorporated DCCIV-15-1062 (2 September 2015)

Pembroke School applied for an extension of exemption from section 37 of the Act to permit it to favour girls or boys in respect of applications for enrolment at all year levels from Early Learning to Year 7 for the purpose of obtaining gender balance. The exemption was granted for a further 3 years from 13 April 2015.

Complaints referred to the Equal Opportunity Tribunal 2015-16

Where a complaint has not been resolved through the EOC’s conciliation process, the Commissioner can either decline the complaint, or refer it to the Tribunal for hearing and determination.

Where the Commissioner refers a complaint to the Tribunal, the complainant or respondent may request legal assistance in proceedings. The Commissioner will then make a determination as to whether or not she will fund legal assistance for parties, taking into account a number of factors including the capacity of the complainant or respondent to represent themselves or provide their own representation, and the nature and circumstances of the complaint.

In 2015-16 the following three cases were referred to the Tribunal with full or partial assistance:

CASE	NUMBER	GROUNDS OF DISCRIMINATION	OUTCOME
Jackson v Department for Planning, Transport & Infrastructure	DCCIV-15-1768	Disability	Awaiting Tribunal hearing
De Silva v Titan Fan Products Australia Pty Ltd, Jeffries, Washington, Mafrici, Valdeze, and Ramsay	DCCIV-16-1453	Race, victimisation	Awaiting Tribunal hearing

Should the Commissioner decline a complaint, the complainant has the right under the Act to take their complaint to the Tribunal for hearing and determination.

In these cases, parties do not receive financial assistance from the Commissioner and can either represent themselves at the Tribunal or engage a lawyer.
In 2015-16, ten complaints were referred to the Tribunal and registered without legal assistance funded by the Commissioner. Note that a number of complaints made by one complainant may be registered as one Tribunal matter if they are related. The ‘unfunded’ complaints referred to the Tribunal were as follows:

CASE	NUMBER	GROUNDS OF DISCRIMINATION	OUTCOME
McClure v Adelaide United Members Club Inc.	DCCIV-15-1136	Disability	Discontinued by complainant 18 September 2015
Ragless v Stokes	DCCIV-15-1200	Victimisation	Proceedings dismissed - 20 April 2016
Char v Department for Education and Child Development, Mason, Burville, and McLaren	DCCIV-15-1512	Race discrimination, victimisation	Discontinued by complainant 1 July 2016
MacDonald v BGC Contracting	DCCIV-15-1732	Age	Discontinued by complainant 1 February 2016
Teo v Peter Stevens Motorcycles Pty Ltd	DCCIV-15-1767	Sex, age, disability, sexuality	Discontinued by complainant 3 August 2016
Hinder v Clayton	DCCIV-16-41	Marital or domestic partnership status, association with a child	Awaiting Tribunal hearing
Mushi v Cara Incorporated	DCCIV-16-40	Sex, Race	Discontinued by complainant 2 May 2016
Smith v Department for Education and Child Development, Ruciack, and Howieson	DCCIV-16-551	Disability, sexual harassment, victimisation	Awaiting Tribunal hearing
Hunt v Department for Planning, Transport & Infrastructure, Anzellotti	DCCIV-16-706	Disability, sex, victimisation, victimisation for being a whistle blower	Awaiting Tribunal hearing
Taylor v Central Adelaide Local Health Network	DCCIV-16-817	Disability	Awaiting Tribunal hearing