Direct discrimination is treating someone less favourably on the grounds of their age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, race, pregnancy status or other identifiable group covered in equal opportunity legislation. Indirect discrimination is where everyone is treated the same regardless of their circumstances, with the result that one group is disadvantaged.
Discrimination may take different forms and may affect your ability to participate in or succeed in your chosen course of study. Some examples include:
- harassment and bullying by a staff member or other students
- excluding a potential student from a course or failing them because they can't fulfil a course requirement in the standard way, such as not making reasonable adjustments to course delivery or assessment for someone with a disability
- excluding someone from a course because of an assumption made about their employability
- requiring all students to attend a selection test on a Saturday when the course is normally run during the week, effectively excluding students who have carer responsibilities that they can't change.
If you feel discrimination is occurring and you are comfortable to, you can:
- speak directly to your lecturer about it
- discuss the Student Complaint Resolution Policy and your options for dealing with the issue with a Student counsellor on your campus
- seek advice and support from a disability support manager on your campus
- contact the Equal Opportunity Commission for advice and lodge a complaint if you fee that TAFE SA is not dealing satisfactorily with the situation.