The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) says simplifying and modernising Australia’s Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) will better protect the rights of people with disability.
The Australian Government has announced a review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, following calls for reform from the disability sector and the Disability Royal Commission.
AHRC president Hugh de Kretser said the reform of the DDA is an opportunity to improve Australia’s other anti-discrimination laws, so they work more effectively and coherently together. “People’s experiences of discrimination intersect and compound across disability, age, race, sex, gender and sexuality,” he said.
“Currently, the DDA and the Racial, Sex and Age Discrimination Acts have inconsistent standards of protection that creates confusion and inefficiency and makes non-compliance more likely. We need to make it easier for people to understand their rights and obligations.”
Disability Discrimination Commissioner Rosemary Kayess said: “The DDA is a vital piece of our legal framework to ensure that over five million people with disability in Australia do not experience discrimination.
“People with disability continue to experience inequality and discrimination daily and are marginalised and excluded in many areas of their lives due to ableist systems, policies and attitudes. This clearly shows the DDA isn’t working as intended.”
One of its key proposals is for the introduction of a ‘positive duty’ which is a requirement for those with obligations under the DDA to take active steps to prevent discrimination from happening in the first place. “Currently the DDA is reactive, and remedial action can only occur after a complaint has been made,” she said.
“The AHRC would like to see DDA reform of the tests for direct and indirect discrimination as well as a strengthening of the Act’s Disability Standards. This would make the DDA more relevant to the contemporary experience of discrimination and easier to enforce.
“We have a range of other recommendations for reform which we’ll be including in our submission to the review. We’re looking forward to working with the disability community, the business sector, government and other stakeholders to ensure the DDA review delivers workable anti-discrimination protection for people with disability throughout Australia.”