Equality Act 2010

Equality Act 2010
Act of Parliament
	Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title
Long title
	An Act to make provision to require Ministers of the Crown and others when making strategic decisions about the exercise of their functions to have regard to the desirability of reducing socio-economic inequalities; to reform and harmonise equality law and restate the greater part of the enactments relating to discrimination and harassment related to certain personal characteristics; to enable certain employers to be required to publish information about the differences in pay between male and female employees; to prohibit victimisation in certain circumstances; to require the exercise of certain functions to be with regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and other prohibited conduct; to enable duties to be imposed in relation to the exercise of public procurement functions; to increase equality of opportunity; to amend the law relating to rights and responsibilities in family relationships; and for connected purposes.
Citation	2010 c. 15
Introduced by	Harriet Harman (Commons); Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Lords)
Territorial extent	England and Wales; Scotland; section 82, 105 (3) and (4) and 199 also apply to Northern Ireland
Dates
Royal assent	8 April 2010
Commencement	1 October 2010
Other legislation
Amends	Town Police Clauses Act 1847;
Repeals/revokes	Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919; Equal Pay Act 1970; Sex Discrimination Act 1975; Race Relations Act 1976; Sex Discrimination Act 1986; Race Relations (Remedies) Act 1994; Disability Discrimination Act 1995;
Amended by	Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011; Charities Act 2011; Education Act 2011; Localism Act 2011; Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011; Public Bodies Act 2011; Financial Services Act 2012; Health and Social Care Act 2012; Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012; Crime and Courts Act 2013; Energy Act 2013; Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013; Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013; Justice and Security Act 2013; Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013; Mobile Homes (Wales) Act 2013; Public Audit (Wales) Act 2013; School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013; Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014; Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure 2014; Care Act 2014; Children and Families Act 2014; Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014; Armed Forces (Service Complaints and Financial Assistance) Act 2015; Deregulation Act 2015; Qualifications Wales Act 2015; Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016; Scotland Act 2016; Bus Services Act 2017; Higher Education and Research Act 2017; National Citizen Service Act 2017; Policing and Crime Act 2017; Wales Act 2017; Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018; Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018; European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020; Health and Social Care (Quality and Engagement) (Wales) Act 2020; Armed Forces Act 2021; Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Act 2021; Environment Act 2021; Forensic Science Regulator Act 2021; Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021; Medicines and Medical Devices Act 2021; Trade Act 2021; Advanced Research and Invention Agency Act 2022; Health and Care Act 2022; Nationality and Borders Act 2022; Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Disabled Persons) Act 2022; Finance (No. 2) Act 2023; Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023; Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023; Media Act 2024; Victims and Prisoners Act 2024;
Status: Amended
History of passage through Parliament
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Equality Act 2010 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Equality Act 2010 (c. 15) is an act of Parliament of the United Kingdom passed during the Brown ministry with the primary purpose of consolidating, updating and supplementing the numerous prior acts and regulations, that formed the basis of anti-discrimination law in mostly England, Scotland and Wales; some sections also apply to Northern Ireland. These consisted, primarily, of the Equal Pay Act 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Race Relations Act 1976, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and three major statutory instruments protecting against discrimination in employment on grounds of sexual orientation, age, and religion or belief. The act protects people against discrimination, harassment or victimisation in employment, and as users of private and public services based on these protected characteristics: age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, and religion or belief.

The Act has broadly the same goals as the four major EU Equal Treatment Directives, whose provisions it mirrors and implements. However, the Act also offers protection beyond the EU directives, protecting against discrimination based on a person's nationality and citizenship and also extending individuals' rights in areas of life beyond the workplace in religion or belief, disability, age, sex, sexual orientation and gender reassignment.

The Act includes provisions for single-sex services where the restrictions are "a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim". In the case of disability, employers and service providers are under a duty to make reasonable adjustments to their workplaces to overcome barriers experienced by disabled people. In this regard, the Equality Act 2010 did not change the law. Under s.217, with limited exceptions the Act does not apply to Northern Ireland.