When leading a meeting, you ought to keep various legal and ethical requirements in mind. When
business decisions are required or motions have been put forward by meeting participants, you may
need to quickly decide whether the implications are possible within the law.
Types of laws to consider include:
➢ Competition laws
➢ Consumer laws
➢ Product liability regulations
➢ Environmental legislation
➢ Privacy laws.
You should also be fully aware of anti-discrimination legislation. You may need to interrupt the
conversation if you feel that comments being made are discriminatory or if business actions being
discussed would contravene legislation.
The Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 makes it unlawful to discriminate because of:
➢ Race
➢ Colour
➢ Sex
➢ Religion
➢ Political opinion (in employment only)
➢ National extraction or social origin
➢ Age
➢ Medical record
➢ Irrelevant criminal record (in employment only)
➢ Impairment
➢ Marital status
➢ Mental, intellectual or psychiatric disability
➢ Nationality
➢ Physical disability
➢ Sexual preference (in employment only)
➢ Trade union activity (in employment only).