Equality means every person, group of people, or segment of society gets the same opportunities, resources and support.
But equity goes further. People with different circumstances – those who have been historically marginalised and oppressed, for example – receive varying levels of opportunities and support so they are able to reach an outcome equal to others. It levels things up.
Both concepts are essentially about fairness, but while equality sees everyone treated the same, equity achieves this by taking into account people’s different starting points.
BEO works to dismantle those obstacles, to get everyone to the same starting point and to ensure people have what they need to achieve balanced outcomes.