Discrimination
Anti-discrimination laws are there to protect vulnerable people in our community. They operate when someone suffers, or is disadvantaged, because of a protected ground, such as race, sex, pregnancy, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, parental or carer responsibilities, marital status, age, or any one of a number of other grounds.
Many cases of discrimination occur at the workplace, but several other areas are also covered by the laws, including education, sport, the provision of retail and other services and accommodation.
Anti-discrimination laws also protect people from sexual harassment and from some types of vilification or hatred-connected behaviour.
Because anti-discrimination laws vary from state to state, it is always worth checking whether a particular ground is covered and whether any action can be taken to stand up for your rights.
At Gordon Legal, we work with these laws every day, so if you need help with this area, our expert lawyers are happy to help. Get in touch with us by calling 1800 21 22 23.
Defamation
Defamation (what you might know as slander or libel) is the cause of action that protects a reputation in Australia. Small businesses and individuals are promoting themselves online more than ever before, and that means your reputation has never been more at risk.
Anything you publish about someone, or someone publishes about you, can be defamatory. If you’re an influencer or content producer, you need to know what you can say and be prepared for the worst if you publish content about someone or someone publishes about you.
Our experienced defamation lawyers can help review your content and minimise your risk before publishing, bring a claim on your behalf for damage to your reputation or defend you if an allegation of defamation has been made.
Institutional Abuse
We act for survivors of child sexual and physical abuse. We believe that institutions should recognise wrongs and pay fair compensation to people who were abused as children in their care. We assist survivors of abuse to obtain compensation against the institution responsible for the abuse. We understand that survivors experience a range of significant and ongoing psychological, psychiatric and other consequences. We act for former Wards of the State, as well as those abused in religious institutions and out of home care. We have experience in dealing with the State of Victoria and religious institutions.
We understand that it is difficult for survivors to tell their story and we know that monetary compensation does not change what happened.
We provide advice about the legal rights of survivors, including access to the National Redress Scheme and victim of crime compensation.
The Prime Minister of Australia delivered the National Apology to Victims and Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse in October 2018. More information on this can be found here.
Privacy
Increasingly, Australians are sharing their private information. Sometimes you’re giving your medical history to a doctor, other times you’re giving permissions to a new app to access your phone’s memory or sharing photos with friends.
Everyone has a right to control what happens to the information they chose to share. Enforcing that right isn’t always easy, especially when institutions aren’t protected from data breaches or when personal relationships break down.
Dealing with big tech companies can also be extremely difficult.
Gordon Legal has a staff of privacy law specialists who understand how the laws operate in this complicated area and can help you have peace of mind that if your privacy is breached you will be appropriately compensated.
