HomeEquality Act 2010
The Equality Act brings together for the first time all the legal requirements on equality that the private, public and voluntary sectors need to follow.
It affects equality law at work and in delivering all sorts of services and running clubs.
It replaces all the existing equality law including:
- The Equal Pay Act 1970
- The Sex Discrimination Act 1975
- The Race Relations Act 1976
- The Disability Discrimination Act 1995
Most of the new law is based on current legislation which has been streamlined but there are some important differences.
It protects people from discrimination on the basis of certain characteristics. These are known as protected characteristics and they vary slightly according to whether a person is at work or using a service. More information on these protected characteristics can be found in our Equality Matters page.
A link to the Equality Act 2010 legislation can be found by clicking here.
Links to more Equality Act 2010 legislation documents including an easy read version of the Act can be found by clicking here.
The ten key questions about the Equality Act can be found by clicking here. A wealth of other Equality Act guidance and information can be found on the Equality and Human Rights Commission website.
All pages in this section: