Can the local environmental protection group refuse my membership and prohibit me from attending meetings because my business activities involve the recreational motorcycle industry?
The Equal Opportunity Act makes it against the law to discriminate against someone because of a protected personal characteristic such as age, sex, disability, political beliefs, or parental status. A person’s ‘business activities’ are not protected by the Act, so while the situation you have described sounds unfair it seems unlikely that it would amount to unlawful discrimination under the Act. You could explore the possibility of making a complaint to the organisation itself (its website should have information about who your regional contact is) about your exclusion from the meetings. If the group receives government funding, you may also want to consider contacting the Ombudsman Victoria or the Commonwealth Ombudsman, who deal with complaints about the operation of government agencies, to ask for advice.
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