Today, the main provisions Equality Act 2010 are brought into force...The purpose of the Equality Act is to both strengthen and harmonise existing equality legislation...Some notable developments coming into force today are: A harmonisation of protection across all of the protected characteristics (age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation), including (i) the extension of protection from indirect discrimination to include disability and (ii) the extension of protection from third party harassment to all protected characteristics; Protection from discrimination in new circumstances through the inclusion of associative and perceived discrimination in the definition of prohibited conduct, which will be particularly significant for carers; Provisions allowing for positive action where proportionate to the aim of overcoming disadvantage and improving equality; The restriction of the circumstances in which employers are permitted to ask job applicants about their health before making a job offer which should serve to improve job opportunities for people with disabilities; and Provisions which make pay secrecy clauses unenforceable and thereby make it easier for individuals to establish whether they are suffering from unlawful discrimination with regard to pay.