Policeman back to drawing board after $20,000 gender discrimination payout quashed

A gender discrimination battle waged by a Tasmania Police officer who missed out on a country post to a younger, female applicant now looks to be far from over.

Detective Senior Constable Martin White.

A gender discrimination battle waged by a Tasmania Police officer who missed out on a country post to a younger, female applicant now looks to be far from over – with a decision to award him $20,000 now quashed.

Last November, the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal awarded the sum to Detective Senior Constable Martin White, 56.

The tribunal found Mr White was discriminated against on the basis of his gender in an internal grievance process after he was overlooked for the role of sole police officer at the Richmond station in December 2020.

The tribunal agreed with Mr White that he’d initially been treated unfairly in the application process due to his age, but this had been remedied in an internal Tasmania Police grievance process.

However, it also found his gender had been an issue in that process and therefore awarded him compensation, although the sum was considerably less than the $250,000 he originally sought.

Mr White’s complaint has made its way to the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner, the tribunal, and finally a Supreme Court of Tasmania appeal.

In his judgment handed down on Wednesday, Supreme Court Acting Justice Shane Marshall upheld an appeal by the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner, who argued the tribunal had made errors at law.

Among a number of grounds, The Anti-Discrimination Commissioner has argued the tribunal should have found Mr White was also discriminated against on the basis of his age.

Acting Justice Marshall also granted a separate application from the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management secretary, to extend the period of time in which it could lodge an appeal.

Among other grounds, the secretary plans to argue against the gender discrimination finding and the awarding of compensation.

Acting Justice Marshall quashed the November decision, remitting the case back to a differently-constituted tribunal to be re-heard.

Last year’s tribunal decision noted the Richmond job had been held by a male officer for 10 years, and a different man before that for 20 years.

A Tasmania Police assistant commissioner had referred to an independent report that favoured appointing females in rural police stations “to increase diversity”.

The tribunal found Mr White’s gender was a “causative and not insignificant factor” in his internal grievance being rejected, and that he was treated less favourably in that process than if he were “the same gender as the successful applicant”.

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Originally published as Policeman back to drawing board after $20,000 gender discrimination payout quashed