When discrimination is legal

Sometimes it is legal to discriminate in competitive sport and this is known as an exemption or exception. These exemptions help ensure fair competition and allow for the:

• exclusion of people because of gender but only after the age of twelve (e.g., single sex competitions)
• restriction on participation to people who can effectively compete or have a particular disability (e.g., where a person is not reasonably capable of performing actions required in relation to the sporting activity)
• restriction to young people in a specified age group (e.g., age graded teams)

Players may be able to challenge these exemptions (e.g., if a girl wants to participate in a boy’s team because there is not an equivalent female competition and strength, stamina and physique is not seen as an issue).

If the matter can’t be resolved by the sport the player may be able to lodge a complaint at an anti-discrimination agency. A number of court and tribunal decisions have ruled on the fairness of exemptions.