Equal Employment Opportunity
- Policy statement
- Responsibility for equity
- Affirmative action
- Sexual harassment
- Conciliation and grievance procedures
- Institutional Equity Plan 2002 - 2004
- Students with disabilities and implementation manual
- Contacts
Policy statement
The University is committed to Equal Employment Opportunity, which means that merit and equity will form the basis of all decisions, which affect staff of the University.
To provide Equal Employment Opportunity the University requires all staffing procedures to ensure equality of opportunity for each vacancy or position to which advancement is available. It also ensures that the most suitable person is chosen for each available position. It necessitates a system of appointment and advancement by merit so that equal skills and equal qualifications result in equal chance selection and progress, and equal access to benefits and opportunities, which relate to the position filled.
It is the University's objective to ensure the absence of discrimination in its selection, promotions, staff development and conditions of appointment of staff, based on sex, sexual preference, marital status, nationality, race or racial origin, political or religious belief, age, disability or any other personal characteristic irrelevant to the work to be performed.
It is the University's policy that selection is based on merit. In this context merit means selection of the most proficient person having regard to the abilities, qualifications, relevant experience and personal qualities that are necessary for the performance of the position.
Responsibility for equity
- The Council of the University has a strong commitment to the maintenance of Equal Employment Opportunity principles at all times and at all levels of the University's operations.
- The Vice-Chancellor, as Director of Equal Opportunity, has special responsibility for equal employment opportunity policy, including discrimination and harassment policy.
- Development, implementation and monitoring of the Equal Opportunity Management Plan, discrimination and harassment policies are the responsibility of the Director, Support and Equity Services.
- Implementation of Equal Opportunity is the responsibility of all staff. Managers, deans, directors and supervisors have an individual and collective responsibility to promote equal employment opportunity as an integral part of the University's management practices.
View the University's Equal Opportunity Policy.
Affirmative action
The University endorses a policy of affirmative action to ensure progress toward equal employment opportunity through management programs and legislative reform for the following four groups who have experienced disadvantage in employment:
- Women
- Indigenous Australians
- People with disabilities
- People from non-English speaking backgrounds
All employees will benefit from the absence of any discriminatory practices related to recruitment, selection, training and development, promotion and transfer, and conditions of service. An affirmative action program will aim to increase the range of occupations open to people within these groups to encourage them to seek senior positions on merit in all career paths and to ensure that work they undertake is fully valued.
Sexual harassment
The NT Anti-Discrimination Act defines sexual harassment when a person:
- Subjects another person to an unsolicited act of physical intimacy
- Makes an unsolicited demand or request (whether directly or by implication) for sexual favours from the other person
- Makes a remark or sexual connotation in relation to the other person
- Engages in any other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature in relation to the other person, and the person engaging in the conduct does so with the intention of offending, humiliating or intimidating the other person
- Humiliates or intimidates where a reasonable person would have anticipated a possibility that the other person would be offended by the conduct
Staff and students who believe that they are being discriminated against - this may take the form of harassment or sexual harassment - should make contact with their supervisor, lecturer, a trained university conciliator or staff in Support and Equity Services. Information about conciliators is also available through Support and Equity Services.
View the Guidelines for Dealing with Sexual Harassment - Staff
View the Sexual Harassment Guidelines for Students
Conciliation and grievance procedures
The University wishes to create an academic and work environment, which is conducive to meeting the goals of the organisation and those individual students and staff who interact within it. The University as an employer is dedicated to an harassment-free environment.
In order to ensure that proper standards of conduct are maintained and staff and students have a formal avenue through which they can express their concerns, the University has developed, in consultation with unions, a conciliation and grievance procedure to deal with complaints, both informal and formal.
For further information view Student complaints and grievances
For further information view Staff greivances
Institutional Equity Plan 2002 - 2004
In 1990, the Australian Government released a paper entitled A Fair Chance for All (DETYA and NBEET). The paper identified six equity groups for priority action: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, women in non-traditional areas, people from non-English speaking backgrounds, people with a disability, rural and isolated people, and people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. In response to this, universities were asked to develop targets for the different equity groups and prepare accounts of how they planned to reach those targets.
Charles Darwin University is committed to improving access, participation, retention and success of students in the defined equity groups and reports annually to the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) on both its identified targets and performance in meeting those targets.
Students with disabilities and implementation manual
As part of the University's ongoing commitment to improving access, participation, retention and success of students with a disability, a policy for students with a disability and Implementation Manual has been developed. The manual sets out standards for both physical access and access to programs of study to ensure that students with a disability are not discriminated against when accessing the University or participating in programs of study.
View the Process for Students with Disabilities (SWD) Requiring Additional Adjustments (.pdf).
Contacts
The Director, Support and Equity Services, is responsible for the development, implementation and monitoring of the Equal Opportunity policies.
Phone: 08 8946 6422
Fax: 08 8946 6654
