Discussing "sex" at work can be a costly business: Translating the science, language and law behind M v A & U [2007]

Abstract

This article seeks to elaborate on the language and law of transsexualism used by the Anti-Discrimination Tribunal of Queensland. Its aim is to enhance practitioners’understanding of the legal and social issues peculiar to those who affirm a sex opposite that first assigned to them so that those practitioners may better interpret the law to their clients. As the instant decision shows, the failure by an employer to take reasonable steps to avoid infringing the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld), either on its own part or by the actions of its employees, can prove a costly business indeed.