Legislating Against Lookism in Australia

Abstract

Aesthetic labour explains how employees are required to look and sound the part in many contemporary workplaces. That such corporeality affects workers' employment prospects, including career progression, is now well documented in research. As such, it can result in employment discrimination based on physical features, more commonly known as ‘lookism’. However, very few jurisdictions proscribe lookism, and little is known about the efficacy of those that do. Based on archival research, this chapter examines the procedures and operation of physical features inclusion in an Equal Opportunity Act in one jurisdiction that does proscribe ‘lookism – the state of Victoria in Australia. As the first analysis of such laws, the chapter provides an important opportunity to assess the efficacy of legal attempts to address employment discrimination based on employee appearance. In so doing, it draws out lessons about the legal challenge to lookism.

Citation

Warhurst, C., Hall, R. and Van Den Broek, D. (2023), "Legislating Against Lookism in Australia", Broadbridge, A. (Ed.) The Emerald Handbook of Appearance in the Workplace, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 233-248. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80071-174-720230014