Vincent Cheng Wing-shun Rosanna Choi Yi-tak Lily Chow Theresa Cunanan James Matthew Fong Simon Lam Ken-chung Sigmund Leung Sai-man Vishal Melwani Henry Shie Wai-hung Anna Thompson Shirley To Shuk-yi Linda Tsang Chi-man Rizwan Ullah Gary Wong Chi-him The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) is a public body in Hong Kong that investigates discrimination complaints and promotes equality.

[5]: 337  When the United Kingdom ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1986, the treaty also applied to other British dependent territories.

[5]: 362  In November 1991, Legislative Councillor Emily Lau helped form an ad-hoc group in the legislature to study women's issues.

[5]: 363  In March 1992, an inter-departmental working group on sex discrimination was created to advise the government on whether to extend CEDAW to Hong Kong.

[5]: 366–368  By the end of the public consultation, Secretary for Home Affairs Michael Suen said that "[it] would be difficult for [the government] to come up with credible arguments not to extend CEDAW".

[10]: 345  She believed that tabling the bill three years before the handover of Hong Kong was a window of opportunity to expand equality rights.

[1] The bill sought to outlaw discrimination on grounds including sex, marital status, pregnancy, sexuality, race, age, disability, and political and religious conviction.

In April 1995, Wu decided to break the bill into three, each addressing different areas of discrimination to ensure that some parts of it could pass before the legislative session ended.

[16] The EOC was established on 20 May 1996 with Fanny M. Cheung as its first chairperson,[17][18] after candidates such as Elsie Leung turned down the offer that included a salary of $157,250 and a monthly cash bonus of $70,320.

[20] The District Court judge ruled in favour of Apple Daily because the language used in the advertisement in the newspaper's celebrity section was vague and therefore did not violate the Sex Discrimination Ordinance.

[20] The Court of Appeal overturned the decision, saying that allowing the ambiguous language would permit employers to advertise freely for only one gender.

[24] Before being appointed to the post by Anna Wu, Yu was the executive director of the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities.

[26][27] The Independent Commission Against Corruption later investigated Wong on suspicion of bribery after complaints were filed that he had used false documents to apply for government reimbursement of air tickets valued at HK$171,666 for him and his family.

[31] The South China Morning Post reported that renewal negotiations had collapsed after the government offered only a six-month contract when Chu requested for another one-year term.

Human rights activists initially questioned whether Chow would criticise the government as a longtime civil servant and the former health secretary.

[33] After becoming the chairperson, Chow reversed his position and supported such a legislation By the end of his tenure, he was seen to have made queer culture more visible in Hong Kong.

[10]: 341  If potential discrimination is found in cases, the EOC can provide legal assistance, including representation in court, to the person making the complaint.