Human Rights Act 1993, s 65
Discrimination can be direct or indirect, and both kinds are illegal. Direct discrimination would be where, for example, your employer pays you less because you’re a woman. Indirect discrimination, on the other hand, is where what happened doesn’t seem to breach the anti-discrimination laws on a first look but in practice it has the effect of discriminating in a way that’s illegal. For example, if you use a wheelchair and some of your university lectures are on the fifth floor in a building without a lift, then this is indirect discrimination against you on the illegal ground of disability.
Another example of indirect discrimination could be if you’re unemployed and a power company refuses to accept you as a customer because you’re on a low income and can’t get a credit card. That could be indirect discrimination against unemployed people.