Assembly’s Executive Office Committee Seeks Views on Age Discrimination Bill

The Assembly's Committee for the Executive Office has launched a call for evidence on the Age Discrimination (Goods, Facilities and Services) Bill, a Member's Bill sponsored by Claire Sugden MLA.

The Bill aims to protect people aged 16 and over from being treated unfairly because of their age when accessing services such as healthcare, housing, insurance, financial services, retail and leisure facilities.

If passed, the Bill would make it unlawful to discriminate against, harass or victimise someone because of their age - and would bring Northern Ireland into line with protections already in place in other parts of the UK and Ireland.

Having completed its Second Stage in the Assembly on 20 October 2026, the Bill has now been referred to the Committee for detailed scrutiny. As part of that work, the Committee for the Executive Office wants to hear the views of interested individuals and organisations on the proposals contained in the Bill.

Paula Bradshaw MLA, Chairperson of the Executive Office Committee said: "As a Committee, we have an important role in examining the detail of legislation and considering the potential impact of proposed laws.

"This Bill seeks to introduce protections against age discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services and would represent a significant development in Northern Ireland's equality framework.

"We now want to hear from individuals, community and voluntary organisations, businesses, representative bodies and anyone with an interest in this issue. I encourage people to submit their views through the Citizen Space online portal on the Assembly's website. The evidence we receive will play an important role in informing the Committee's scrutiny of the Bill."

The Committee will consider all written submissions received during the four-week call for evidence. It will also hear oral evidence from a range of stakeholders as part of its scrutiny of the Bill.

ENDS

For further information, please contact Felicity Templeton, Assembly communications office felicity.templeton@niassembly.gov.uk  / 07977 635930

Notes to editors

• The Committee’s call for evidence opens today, Thursday 5 November and closes on Thursday 3 December.  You can access it via the Assembly's online consultation portal, Citizen Space https://lk.cmte.fyi/ADBill 
• You can follow the Bill’s progress on the Assembly’s legislation tracker here: Age Discrimination (Goods, Facilities and Services) Bill
• You can follow the Committee’s work on the Bill, via its Forward Work Programme here.
• The Bill completed its Second Stage in the Assembly on 20 October 2026.  Read the Official Report here. (after 11.15am)