➢ Effective pay equality and pay equity legislation. No successful cases have ever been progressed under New Zealand’s Equal Pay Act 1972 and there is no legislation in New Zealand that relates to pay equity and to work of equal value. The Equal Pay Act 1972 and the Human Rights Act 1993 provide for protection against sex discrimination but are widely regarded as ineffective in pay equity cases largely because no positive obligations are placed on employers in relation to equal pay and pay equity. The legislation also anticipates individual complainants, rather than groups of women, which is a limitation when attempting to reduce structural discrimination. The Commission has developed and promoted a Pay Equality Bill that promotes transparency of wages, makes confidentiality of pay illegal and provides for a positive duty on employers.43 The proposed legislation which is available for the Government, other political parties or a private member to sponsor, has generated significant publicity along with another private member’s bill aimed at reforming the current Equal Pay Act. The Commission recommends that the Committee asks New Zealand to: • establish specific measures and indicators relating to the implementation of equal pay and pay equity • identify a time frame to develop a pay parity mechanism and redress pay inequality for female care workers in the aged care sector • review the accountabilities of public service chief executives to be good employers and a requirement that they address the issues identified in their department’s pay and employment equity response plans. Structural Discrimination (Article 3) Entrenched ethnic inequalities exist in New Zealand. The effects of structural discrimination in one area and at any life stage impacts on socio-economic, cultural and other outcomes. This can be seen in the criminal justice system, where bias in policing in turn impacts on arrest and imprisonment statistics. Focusing on universal provision of public services, i.e. providing the same service to all irrespective of socio-economic status or ethnicity, assumes everyone has equal access to services. Proper planning for reducing inequalities depends on good-quality, standardised data and disaggregated data. Where government services do not respond to the specific needs of ethnic groups, structural discrimination is perpetuated. Adequate resources – both financial and in terms of staff with relevant expertise (e.g. language skills or cultural knowledge) – training, and support materials are vital. Right to Life and Prohibition of Torture & Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment and Treatment of Prisoners (Articles 6, 7&10) ➢ Use of Tasers In the concluding recommendation on New Zealand’s fifth report, the Committee recommended that New Zealand should consider relinquishing the use of Tasers or if they were retained then there should be a greater effort to ensure adherence at all times to guidelines restricting their use to situations where the use of lethal force was justified. While there was transparent reporting on the use of Tasers during their trial in 2006, this seems to have been discontinued. Police have stated, however, that Taser-cams would ensure accountability but a complaint to the Ombudsmen regarding police refusal to release Taser-cam footage was not upheld, 43 Human Rights Commission, Pay Equality Bill, in Tracking Equality at Work, 2011 http://www.neon.org.nz/trackingequalityatwork/ Page 15 of 35