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Discrimination Act 1991
4Objects of Act
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4 Objects of Act
The objects of this Act are—
(a) to eliminate discrimination to the greatest extent possible; and
(b) to promote and protect the right to equality before the law under
the Human Rights Act 2004, including—
(i) the right to enjoy a person’s human rights without
distinction or discrimination of any kind; and
(ii) the right to the equal protection of the law without
discrimination; and
(iii) the right to equal and effective protection against
discrimination on any ground; and
(c) to encourage the identification and elimination of systemic
causes of discrimination; and
(d) to promote and facilitate the progressive realisation of equality,
as far as reasonably practicable, by recognising that—
(i) discrimination can cause social and economic
disadvantage and that access opportunities are not
equitably distributed throughout society; and
(ii) equal application of a rule to different groups can have
unequal results or outcomes; and
(iii) the achievement of substantive equality may require the
making of reasonable adjustments, reasonable
accommodation and the taking of special measures.
4AA Interpretation beneficial to people with protected
attributes
This Act must be interpreted in a way that is beneficial to a person
who has a protected attribute, to the extent it is possible to do so
consistently with—
(a) the objects of this Act; and
(b) human rights under the Human Rights Act 2004.
Note The Legislation Act, s 139 (1) (which is about interpreting legislation to
be consistent with its purpose) and the Human Rights Act 2004, s 30
(which is about interpreting legislation to be consistent with human
rights) are also relevant to interpreting territory laws.