Greg Watson, Manager Strategy, Education and Engagement together with Kayla Manuel, Community Education and Training Officer travelled to Albany to participate in the Fairday.
Kayla highlighted the importance of the Fairday as part of the Commission’s role to inform people in Western Australia about their rights and obligations under the Equal Opportunity Act 1984. This educational role extends to encouraging people to be upstanders.
Greg prepared a resource on upstander skills to share with members of the LGBTQIA+ community, family and allies who visited the Commission’s stall at the Fairday. The resource included the point that sometimes just standing or sitting with the person being harassed can defuse a situation.
The Fairday was held on Zero Discrimination Day, which is celebrated globally on 1 March each year to promote equality before the law and inclusion. The 2025 theme for Zero Discrimination Day is ‘We Stand Together’
Discrimination can be subtle and initially fall below the threshold that would motivate a complaint to the Commission, but it tends to be insidious. No matter how subtle it may be, discrimination causes hurt at an individual and societal level. This is why we need to stand together against discrimination and harassment whenever it occurs in the places where we work, learn, socialise, commute, shop, and go about the business of our everyday lives.
Being an upstander positively embodies this year’s Zero Discrimination Day theme ‘We Stand Together.’
If you are interested in the Equal Opportunity Commission delivering a session to your community group, please contact us by email at training@eoc.wa.gov.au or phone 9216 3927.
General information about training offered by the Commission is available on our website - Community Education and Training.
