Williamstown’s shipyard has won the right to racially discriminate against workers for security reasons.
BAE Systems Australia Defence successfully applied to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) for an exemption from provisions in the Equal Opportunity Act that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race.
This means BAE can refuse people work on defence-related projects for security reasons, based on their existing or changed nationality.
As of October last year, the Williamstown shipyard had 1131 employees and 124 contractors.
Sri Lanka-born Gardi Hewapanna Meringnage, referred to as Mr Gardi, made a submission to the tribunal arguing against the exemption.
Mr Gardi, who came to Australia in 2006, was employed by BAE Defence, a wholly owned subsidiary of BAE Systems, before suffering a workplace injury.
He said Victoria was one of the most multinational and multicultural states in Australia, with census data showing more than 280,000 people in the state having been born in countries proscribed under security requirements.
VCAT member Anna Dea said she agreed that a race-based approach to risk assessment was a “blunt and imperfect” instrument, even though she granted BAE its exemption.
“The use of nationality and national origin information to make determinations about access to controlled material is unsatisfactory from a human rights and equal opportunity point of view,” she said.
“However, the current circumstances are such that race-based assessment is still one of the tests which Australia and US governments have determined to be appropriate in this area. It is to be hoped that more movement towards individual assessment … will be the way of the future.”
BAE must notify the tribunal and the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission in six months how many job applicants have been rejected on racial grounds and how many workers have been transferred to areas not requiring a security clearance.
BAE Defence became aware in 2013 that an existing BAE Systems exemption didn’t apply to its Williamstown shipyard.
