Human Rights

The purpose of this Act is to protect Human rights in New Zealand.

The Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in most public and private aspects of life on thirteen grounds. It applies to acts done by the Government of New Zealand and any other public body authorised by law to make decisions in respect of people.

The Act gives power to the Human Rights Commission, a specialist Commission that promotes and protects the human rights of individuals and groups. The Commission provides a dispute resolution service that is able to provide information, advice and mediation to help people resolve human rights issues.

Claims of sexual harassment, racial harassment, and discrimination in employment may be taken against an employer under the Human Rights Act 1993.

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You may download a PDF copy of the Act, and make as many copies as you like (New Zealand legislation has no copyright.) This service is free.

This PDF copy shows the Act in the same format as the official hard copy. To view this file, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. You can download this software for free from adobe.com.