Disability Discrimination Act (1992

)Discrimination is when a person treated less fairly than someone else. Many types of discrimination are against the law.

The Federal Disability Discrimination Act is a law which can be used to stop people with a disability being treated less fairly than people without a disability. It does not matter what disability you have. People like relatives, friends and carers of people with a disability are also protected by this law if they are discriminated against.

The Disability Discrimination Act can be used to get fair treatment in:

• WORK - getting a job, pay, training, promotion.
• EDUCATION - at school or at TAFE, university or other colleges.
  There is more specific information about how the Act applies to Education.
• WHERE YOU LIVE - renting or buying a house or a flat.
• GETTING OR USING SERVICES - using shops, restaurants, banks, theatres, sports and social clubs, local swimming pools, public transport, dentists, doctors, and services run by the government. This includes access to these and other places.
• The Disability Discrimination Act can also be used if a person is being harassed (like being called names, laughed at or put down) because of a disability.

If a person thinks he or she has been discriminated against because of a disability, they or someone else (like a friend or an advocate) can complain to the human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.

The complaint needs to be put in writing. The complaint should say what happened, when, where, who was involved, and give the names of anyone else who knows what happened. It does not cost anything to make a complaint.

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission can also assist you to find other supports such as an interpreter or advocate.

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission has to decide if the complaint comes under the Disability Discrimination Act. If it does, they will write to the other people involved to get their side of the story.

Then they will try to work out a solution which everyone agrees with. This is called conciliation. If conciliation does not work, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission can order that you get fair treatment.

For more information contact the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in Sydney or in Tasmania:

 

Phone 1800 066019

FAX 03 63 3315237

Organisations are encouraged under the Act to develop DDA Action Plans which can assist them in making the changes necessary to comply with the Act. The University of Tasmania has recently completed its DDA Action Plan.