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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 4 Hansard (30 March) . . Page.. 1089 ..
MR HUMPHRIES (Treasurer, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Community Safety) (10.55): Mr Speaker, I present the Discrimination Amendment Bill 2000, together with its explanatory memorandum.
Title read by Clerk.
MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I move:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
The Discrimination Act 1991 makes unlawful various forms of discrimination, including race, sex, age, religion and impairment, subject to certain exceptions specified in the Act. The Discrimination Amendment Bill 2000 amends the Discrimination Act 1991 by introducing another exception relating to age discrimination. There are exceptions in the Act already allowing discrimination on the ground of age, such as in relation to the payment under an award of reduced youth wages to employees under the age of 21, or in relation to employment as an actor where the role requires a person of a particular age group. A club for members of a particular age group can exclude persons that are not of that age group.
The Discrimination Amendment Bill 2000 allows credit providers to consider age as a factor when assessing a person's credit application. This is in recognition that a person's age can be significant in assessing the level of risk involved in extending credit to them. However, it should be noted that age is only one of a number of factors considered by credit providers when assessing a person's credit risk or ability to pay. Some of the other factors which come into play are income level, employment stability, domicile, number of dependants, credit and savings history, and assets and liabilities. All these factors are statistically proven predictors of risk and are given weighted scores which, together, present an overall picture of the applicant used for credit approval decisions. Credit will only be refused where an applicant receives a low score on a number of factors. Credit is not refused based simply on the age factor alone.
To ensure that a credit provider cannot discriminate against a person based on age alone, the amendment provides that age can be used as a relevant factor only where there is objective evidence based on statistical or actuarial data or other reasonable data that a person's age puts him or her in a higher or lower risk category than other persons. For example, if there is actual statistical proof, as opposed to stereotypical views, that a person under 25 or a person over 65 is less likely to be able to repay a loan, then the applicant's age can be used as one criterion is assessing credit risk.
Exemptions allowing credit providers to discriminate on the basis of age have already been enacted in New South Wales (since 1993), Victoria (since 1996) and Tasmania (in 1998). In the New South Wales and Tasmanian provisions the relevant discrimination tribunal can require the credit provider to provide the tribunal with the sources of the data and the factors on which the discrimination is based. Further, the provisions in these jurisdictions state that the discrimination must be reasonable. Likewise, these
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