Of the 1445 complaints of alleged unlawful discrimination we received in 2019-20, the five main prohibited grounds cited were ‘race-related’ complaints (383), disability (249), sex (110), age (93), and sexual harassment (69). These five grounds have been consistently the most cited over recent years. The table below shows the last three years’ numbers of these five most-cited grounds of alleged unlawful discrimination. Compared with the two previous years there are similar figures for race-related complaints in 2019-20, a significant decrease in complaints citing the ground of disability, and lesser decreases on the grounds of sex, age, and sexual harassment. In the 2019-20 year, the Commission closed 5641 enquiries and complaints. Many were resolved by early resolution and ‘shuttle mediation’. That is, through contact with the mediator to both parties either by phone or email, with exchanges of information and discussion, without having an actual mediation meeting ‘in person’. Traditionally, only about one in ten complaints of alleged discrimination allocated to mediators ends up in an ‘in person’ mediation meeting, as the complaint is often resolved by early resolution or ‘shuttle mediation’. The COVID-19 restrictions meant we were unable to offer ‘in person’ mediation meetings during the lock down and subsequent limitations. Complainants were offered virtual mediations by Zoom or Skype. The vast majority opted to wait for ‘in person’ mediations once the restrictions moderated. The Commission held 104 ‘in person’ mediation meetings in 2019-20. Of these, 60 were held in July to October 2019, 35 in November 2019 to February 2020. Only nine were held in March to June 2020, as a result of the lockdown and COVID-19 restrictions. Based on 1445 complaints of alleged unlawful discrimination we would have expected to complete about 140 ‘in person’ mediations. Once the COVID-19 restrictions eased we had a backlog of ‘in person’ mediations to schedule. Of the 104 mediations held in 2019-20, 84 (77 percent) were resolved or partly resolved. Our 0800/Infoline noted an increase in calls from people seeming distressed, especially as a result of the pandemic. This was particularly in the area of employment, and from family members who had vulnerable elderly whānau in rest homes. There were also many enquiries and complaints in relation to mental health. Five most cited grounds for discrimination by year 22 Ground of discrimination 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 Race-related 426 369 383 Disability 425 411 249 Sex 244 183 110 Age 150 135 93 Sexual harassment 123 106 69 Human Rights Commission Annual Report 2019/20