An increasing number of people are getting tattoos removed amid fears it’s holding them back from getting a job.

It follows the case of a 21-year-old woman who was denied her dream job as an airline hostess because of a small ankle tattoo.

The Fair Work Ombudsman says ‘physical appearance is not a protected attribute’.

Hilary Quinn from Melbourne Tattoo Removal said discrimination for people with tattoos was alive and well a few years ago.

‘I think what employers are finding at the moment is that they are severely reducing the pool of people they can employ from if they take a hard and fast line on the issue,’ she said.

She said airlines, the Defence Force and the police force were typically strict on obvious tattoos, and the main problem areas were neck or hand tattoos.

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