The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) launched a public consultation on the review of discrimination law on 8 July 2104. The three-month public consultation exercise, which had been extended by three and a half weeks, was completed on 31 October 2014.

The consultation exercise aimed to seek public views on how the four anti-discrimination ordinances, covering sex, family status, disability and race, should be reviewed and whether they should be combined. The EOC is still collating and counting the responses. Up to date, over 100,000 submissions have been received; a number of them are jointly signed by a large number of people. The Commission will carefully analyze the opinions received with a view to submitting a detailed report with recommendations to the Government, by the second half of 2015.

Dr. York CHOW, the EOC Chairperson, said, “We would like to express our appreciation to all stakeholders and members of the public for their enthusiastic responses and submissions of views.”

“The EOC is open to different opinions, in recognition that there are diverse standpoints in a multicultural society. Undoubtedly, this review is a good opportunity to consider important issues for the development of our society at large,” he remarked.

During the public consultation exercise, the EOC held four public sessions and another six sessions for different ethnic minority communities. Additionally, we met with over 140 stakeholder group representatives, including rehabilitation organizations, women’s groups, employees’ and employers’ groups, other concern groups and public organizations. These arrangements enabled the Commission to collect views from members of the public extensively and thoroughly.

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Equal Opportunities Commission
3 November 2014