Melbourne man fails in bid to gain access to female only gym classes

A Melbourne man has failed in his bid to gain access to a female only gym class.

Whilst sex discrimination is prohibited by the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, s7D of the act protects a person from a discrimination claim if the act is a  special measure "for the purpose of achieving substantive equality between men and women".

Justice Gray, in Walker v Cormack [2011] FCA 861 (3 August 2011), dismissed Phillip Walker's appeal from the Federal Magistrate's court on the basis that the women's only class “was to open up access to a certain portion of women who felt their access to the classes conducted by the gym was restricted by the attendance of men.” Women who felt uncomfortable around men in the gym because of cultural, religious or other reasons were found to benefit from the gym's measures and this was enough to satisfy s7D of the act. 

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