News item | 27-03-2026 | 3:30 PM
The General Equal Treatment Act, the law that protects the right to equal treatment for citizens by companies or organizations, must also apply to the government. The Council of Ministers agreed to this at the proposal of Minister Heerma of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. A change in the law should ensure that citizens can also seek help from the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights or an anti-discrimination facility when they have complaints about government actions. Citizens are thus better protected against so-called unilateral government actions.
For example, the General Equal Treatment Act sets requirements for vacancies, recruitment and selection procedures and the offering of services by educational institutions, hospitals and insurers, among others. The law thus protects citizens in areas where government influence is limited. Typical government actions such as levying taxes, granting subsidies or permits, and street inspections currently fall outside the scope of this law. The government wants to level this out and thus better enable citizens to stand up against institutional discrimination by the government. This implements advice from the State Commission against Discrimination and Racism, the Human Rights Commission and the NCDR. It is also in line with developments such as digitalization, the use of algorithms and concerns about ethnic profiling and institutional racism that increase the need for protection against discrimination by the government.
Minister Heerma: “Trust in the government is of great importance and at the same time it is not self-evident for everyone. It is important that the government also continues to look carefully at its own actions. That is why the cabinet says: equal monks, equal hoods; so-called unilateral government actions must also fall under the Awgb, so that citizens can have their complaints about unequal treatment by the government assessed more broadly.”
Citizens can currently submit their complaints about the government to the National Ombudsman or the judge. Due to the growing number of concerns and rules that are becoming increasingly complex, the government believes it is important that citizens can also easily seek help via other routes. It must therefore also be possible for citizens to request opinions from the Human Rights Institute on all forms of unilateral government action and be supported by (local) anti-discrimination facilities. Both institutes can help citizens free of charge and have more specialist knowledge on issues surrounding discrimination and equal treatment. It remains possible for citizens who experience discrimination by the government to go to the Ombudsman.
Follow-up process
A legislative process will be started for the expansion of the Awgb. During this process, close contact is maintained with organizations in the field. The aim is to have a draft bill ready for internet consultation and consultation of the advisory bodies after the summer of 2026.
