The South Belfast MLA, who chairs the Executive Office Committee conducting the inquiry, stated: "This is a cross-party inquiry, and we want the public's help to determine the impacts of different equality provisions in different jurisdictions and to give us ideas for improvement taking into account the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland.

"It was already the case that the Equality Act introduced in 2010 by Great Britain did not extend to Northern Ireland, and arrangements after the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union may lead to further divergence. It would appear that this has led to gaps in legislation to the detriment of people here.

"We wish to use this survey as part of the Committee's work to investigate these gaps and to examine whether it would be in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland to proceed with legislative change to enhance equality and human rights.

"At the end of the process, we will make recommendations for change on a cross-party basis, which reinforces the importance of people participating in the survey at this early stage."