Provision of goods and services
Section 24 of the DDA provides that it is unlawful for a person who provides goods or services, or makes facilities available, to discriminate against another person on the ground of the other person's disability or a disability of any of that other person's associates:
- by refusing to provide the other person with those goods, services or facilities; or
- in the terms or conditions on which the goods or services or facilities are provided; or
- in the manner in which the goods or services or facilities are provided.
This section does not render it unlawful to discriminate if the provision of the goods or services or facilities would impose unjustifiable hardship on the person who provides the goods or services or makes the facilities available.
The services covered are defined by DDA section 4 are defined to include
- services relating to banking, insurance, superannuation and the provision of grants, loans, credit or finance (See also our ecommerce access and insurance pages); or
- services relating to entertainment, recreation or refreshment (See also our arts and culture page); or
- services relating to transport or travel (See also our public transport page); or
- services relating to telecommunications (See also our telecommunications page); or services of the kind provided by the members of any profession or trade; or
- services of the kind provided by a government, a government authority or a local government body (See also our Commonwealth government page).
Discrimination includes
- direct discrimination - treating a person less favourably, because of his or her disability, than a person without that disability would be treated in the same or similar circumstances. (See section 5 of the DDA.)indirect discrimination - where the same treatment or situation applies to people with and without a disability but the impact is to disadvantage or exclude people with a disability in a way which is not reasonable. (See section 6 of the DDA. For example: stairs are the same for everyone but some people cannot use them; print on paper is the same for everyone but some people cannot read it. )
- treating a person with a disability less favourably because he or she uses an assistive device (see section 7 of the DDA), or is accompanied by a accompanied by an interpreter, reader, assistant or carer (see section 8 of the DDA) or by a guide dog, hearing dog or other animal trained to provide assistance (see section 9 of the DDA).
Commission resources
- Guidelines on access to buildings and services
- Discussion paper on accessibility of consumer electronics and appliances
- Frequently asked questions
- Conciliated complaint outcomes and terminated complaints
- Action plans
Other resources
- Missed Business resource for small business
- BuyAccessible.gov : U.S. Government accessible procurement site
- "Don't take advantage of disadvantage": Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
- MTAA Guidelines on Access to Service Stations for People with Disabilities (PDF) (November 2007)