Public authorities 

This section provides details of the duties and responsibilities of public authorities in Britain. It covers the specifics of statutory equality duties and the implications of the Human Rights Act 1998 for all public sector organisations.

It is unlawful for a public authority exercising a function of a public nature to perform any act which constitutes discrimination. This applies to all the legal grounds for discrimination. Organisations in the public sector are expected to lead the way in carrying out their functions with demonstrable respect for equality and human rights. In the delivery of services, and in the devising of policies and procedures, public authorities have a crucial role to play in promoting the values and practices of a fair and democratic society.

In this section, you can find general information about:

• Public authorities and the public sector: which organisations are included?
• What do public authorities have to do?
• Public authorities and human rights
• Benefits of equality and diversity

This section also contains specific information on the following duties:

• Race equality duty
• The general duty to promote race equality
• Statutory codes of practice and guidance
• Race equality impact assessments
• Gender equality duty
• The general duty to promote gender equality
• Statutory codes of practice and guidance
• Gender equality impact assessments
• Disability equality duty
• The general duty to promote disability equality
• Statutory codes of practice and guidance
• Disability equality impact assessments

Please note that the links above take you to the most valid and recent information available from the Commission.  This includes resources available on the websites of the legacy commissions: the Commission for Racial Equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Disability Rights Commission.

This section does not cover the general responsibilities of employers and service providers. Nor does it address the specific responsibilities of education and training providers.

• For information on employers, go to the ‘Employers’ page.
• For information on service providers, go to the ‘Service providers’ page.
• For information on education and training providers, go to the ‘Education providers’ page.