UNIVERSITY

Discrimination

Contact

The Equal Opportunities Working Group provides support and advice in cases of suspected discrimination and harassment.

E-mail: AKG [dot] buero [at] aau [dot] at

Phone: +43 463 2700 8610

The Federal Equal Treatment Act distinguishes between direct and indirect discrimination.

Direct discrimination occurs when a person receives less favourable treatment in a comparable situation than another person receives, has received, or would receive, on the grounds of religion /belief, disability, age, sexual orientation, racial or ethnic origin, employment or occupation.
Indirect discrimination occurs when an allegedly neutral provision or practice puts a person of one sex or of another group referred to in the Act at a particular disadvantage compared with other people, unless the provision or practice in question is objectively justified by a legitimate aim and the means of achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary.
Discrimination also occurs when a person is instructed to act in a discriminatory manner.

Discrimination refers to any disadvantaging differentiation, which is carried out without any factual ground of justification.

Offenses of discrimination

Grounds for discrimination:

sex
ethnicity
religion or belief
age
sexual orientation

PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATION WHILE STUDYING AT UNIVERSITY

Protection against discrimination at the university extends to students as well as to university applicants (prospective students).

In the context of studying, there shall be no direct or indirect discrimination on the basis of

gender
ethnicity
religion or belief
age
sexual orientation

In particular, this applies to:

admission to degree and non-degree programmes
access to classes with a limited number of participants
registration for exams
academic assessment
the selection of the subject and the supervision of Bachelor’s, Master’s and doctoral theses
the use of facilities and equipment of the university

The respective regulations of the Federal Equal Treatment Act on harassment shall also be applied accordingly to students and university applicants.