The UK's domestic law concerning discrimination is currently contained in five separate Acts and four sets of primary regulations, reflecting no less than six main EU Directives. The Equality Act will harmonize discrimination law and strengthen the law to support progress on equality. This Act will also strengthen the law in a number of areas, which include: placing a new duty on certain public authorities to consider socio-economic disadvantage when making strategic decisions about how to exercise their functions * extending the circumstances in which a person is protected against discrimination, harassment, or victimization because of a protected characteristic * creating a duty on public authorities when carrying out their functions to have due regard to eliminate conduct which the Bill prohibits * allowing an employer, service provider, or other organization to take positive action, so as to enable existing or potential employees or customers to overcome or minimize a disadvantage arising from a protected characteristic * extending the permission for political parties to use women-only shortlists for election candidates to 2030 * enabling an employment tribunal to make a recommendation to a respondent who has lost a discrimination claim to take certain steps to remedy matters for the benefit of the individual claimant and also the wider workforce. Equality and Discrimination: The New Law provides a thorough and practical analysis of the new Act and places it in the context of the old law, suggesting how the new law is likely to work in practice. It will be essential reading for all lawyers and professional advisers dealing with employment and discrimination matters, as well as central and local government departments; schools, colleges, and universities; private clubs and other associations; and transport providers. The full text of the Act in reproduced in full.