A city council near Melbourne, Australia will not consider male applicants for a street sweeper job.
Last month, the Darebin City Council shared the opening and asked for applicants who identify as “female, non-binary and gender-nonconforming.”
“Council’s workforce strategy is focused on achieving a diverse and inclusive organisation that reflects our community,” the listing reads. “To help remove barriers, we are actively identifying some positions, in recognition that some groups are underrepresented in areas of our workforce.”
“This action constitutes a special measure under the Special Measure Provision, Section 12 (1) of the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic),” the listing adds. “Special measures aim to foster greater equality by supporting groups of people who face, or have faced, entrenched discrimination so they can have similar access to opportunities as others in the community.”
According to Australian journalist Mitchell Van Homrigh, “Examples listed under the legislation include a swimming pool that is located in an area with a significant Muslim population that holds women-only swimming sessions to enable Muslim women who cannot swim in mixed company to use the pool.
The Darebin City Council describes itself as “an Equal Opportunity Employer [that] does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices.”
The street sweeper will be responsible for “cleaning and sweep residential streets and shop fronts as well as collecting hard waste pick up and litter. The position comes with a $63,000 salary.
Darebin City Council represents suburbs north of Melbourne in the Australian state of Victoria, which began its sixth lockdown on August 5.
