Decline/termination decisions: Meaning of disability
Summaries of decisions by Disability Discrimination Commissioner or delegate to decline complaints, and of the President of HREOC or delegate reviewing such decisions; or (from 13 April 2000) decisions by the President or delegate to terminate complaints. Last updated: 19 April 2000.
No discrimination in medical examination because of obesity
A woman complained that she had been discriminated against by her employer requiring her to undergo a medical examination to determine her fitness for duty. The delegate of the Commissioner declined the complaint. The only evidence of disability was that the woman was obese. This was not, in itself, a disability as defined in section 4 of the DDA (1995).
Short stature not disability per se
A man complained that he had been discriminated against when he was rejected for a job because he did not meet minimum height requirements. Evidence was that he was 163 cm (5 feet 4 inches) tall. There was no evidence that his height had been reduced or restricted by any illness or disorder. The President confirmed the Disability Discrimination Commissioner's decision to decline the complaint on the basis that the man did not have a disability. (12 July 1995).
Transsexualism not a disability
A transsexual person complained of discrimination in provision of services when a local newspaper refused to publish an advertisement in its personal columns containing the word transsexual. The Commissioner declined the complaint on the basis that transsexualism as such was not a disability (1995).
