27Measures intended to achieve equality

27 Measures intended to achieve equality (1) Part 3 does not make it unlawful to do an act if a purpose of the act is— (a) to ensure that members of a relevant class of people have equal opportunities with other people; or (b) to give members of a relevant class of people access to facilities, services or opportunities to meet the special needs they have as members of the relevant class. (2) However, subsection (1) does not make it lawful to do an act for a purpose mentioned in that subsection if the act discriminates against a member of the relevant class in a way that is not reasonable for the achievement of that purpose. Example for s (1) (a) An employer runs a management skills development course for female employees only. Part 3 does not make this unlawful if a purpose is to ensure that women have equal opportunities (in this case, for career development) with men. Women are ‘members of a relevant class of people’ (relevant class of people is defined in the dict) because they are a class of people whose members are identified by reference to a protected attribute, in this case, sex in s 7 (1) (u). Example for s (1) (b) A health clinic provides speech therapy for autistic children only. Part 3 does not make this unlawful if a purpose is to give autistic children access to a service that meets their special needs as autistic children. Autistic children are ‘members of a relevant class of people’ because they are a class of people whose members are identified by reference to 2 attributes mentioned in s 7, in this case, disability in s 7 (1) (e) and age in s 7 (1) (b) (the Legislation Act, s 145 (b) provides that words in the singular include the plural ie ‘attribute’ in the def of relevant class of people can mean ‘attributes’).