The Sex Discrimination Act at 25: Reflections on the Past, Present and Future

Abstract

The Sex Discrimination Act at 25: Reflections on the Past, Present and Future.Beth.GazeThe Sex Discrimination Act (SDA) was adopted against strident opposition in 1984.This chapter critically analyses its effect after 25 years.The symbolic impact of prohibiting sex discrimination is highly significant, but the real impact of the Act on practices in the workforce and elsewhere appears more limited.Although formal exclusion of women has largely passed, informal practices of discrimination continue.Not only is Australia far from reaching substantive equality for women, it has moved backwards in recent years.This chapter considers what the SDA could achieve and its limits, and whether reforming the Act would move us closer to its avowed objectives of 'eliminating discrimination against persons on the ground of sex ' and 'promot[ing] recognition and acceptance within the community of the principle of the equality of men and women'.

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