Can being vegan be a job requirement?

Animal rights group SAFE is hiring – but only vegans will be considered for the job.

The Human Rights Commission says the requirement is legal, but an employment lawyer says it could be in breach of the human rights and privacy acts.

On Friday, SAFE posted a job advertisement for a media and communications adviser which said: ‘‘You will be: vegan and; have knowledge and a genuine interest in animal welfare and rights.’’

Taylor Shaw employment lawyer Kathryn Dalziel says the ad could be indirect discrimination on the basis of ethical belief.

Most people become vegan for ethical reasons, be it animal welfare or the environment, and the requirement is filtering out people who do not share those ethical beliefs, she says.

‘‘The question is, why does a comms adviser need to be vegan? Could somebody who isn’t a vegan do the job?’’

Asking applicants whether they were vegan could be a breach of privacy as well, she said.

The Human Rights Act has exceptions allowing discrimination on the grounds of religious or ethical beliefs in specific cases. For example, the Catholic Church could hire only male priests, and people hiring household help could filter out people who didn’t share their beliefs.

The act forbids discrimination on the basis of sex, marital status, religious belief, ethical belief, colour, race, ethnic or national origins, disability, age, political opinion, employment status, family status, or sexual orientation.

SAFE acting chief executive Debra Ashton says the organisation was given the green light by the Human Rights Commission and independent lawyers three years ago when it shifted to hiring only vegans. ‘‘I am quite comfortable we are not breaking any rules.’’

The requirement narrows down the number of applicants to those who truly align with SAFE’s goals, and ‘‘makes our job easier’’, she says.

Before SAFE asked for vegan applicants only, it had hundreds of people applying for jobs ‘‘who said they really loved animals but actually weren’t loving them in the same way that we do’’.

All its staff are vegan, bar one person who is transitioning from a vegetarian diet.

The ad has already attracted a dozen applications in a few days, Ashton says. Animal welfare