A company that sends handywomen into the homes of vulnerable women has won the right to exclude men when recruiting workers.
The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal granted Pink Army Handywomen a two-year exemption from provisions of the State's Anti-Discrimination Act that prohibit sex discrimination in the areas of pre-work, work and advertising.
The Pink Army's proprietors told Tribunal member Peta Stilgoe they offered "all female" handyperson services to people – such as victims of male-on-female domestic violence - who don't want male workers in their homes.
They said they sought the exemption so they could expand their business by advertising for female employees and contractors.
Member Stilgoe found that the company targeted female and perhaps some male customers "who may not be comfortable with other males in their homes, even for the limited purpose of effecting repairs".
She said she wasn't convinced by the proprietors' argument that an exemption was necessary to provide a service for vulnerable women, as they could "employ whoever is best for the job and simply not send a male to a job if the client so requests".
Member Stilgoe continued that an exemption application shouldn't be granted for "mere convenience or reputation" and said the application conveyed to her a sense – which she hoped was misconceived - that the proprietors "would simply prefer not to employ men".
However, she granted the exemption on the basis that it would promote employment of females in the handyperson/construction industry, after accepting the proprietors' evidence that women make up only 1.6% of tradespeople in the state's construction industry.
Member Stilgoe said that if it wasn't for the tribunal and its predecessors granting sex discrimination exemptions for employment of a podiatrist, a dance instructor and female-only gym facilities, she would not have been inclined to follow suit.
The "limited" two-year term of the exemption would give the proprietors the chance to gather evidence to justify a longer-term exemption, she said.