Equal Opportunity On Line Training Module 4: Disability Law & Access

Discrimination In Employment

A person with a disability has a right to the same employment opportunities as a person without a disability. Under the the DDA it is against the law for an employer to discriminate against someone on the grounds of disability.

Direct Disability Discrimination in the workplace happens when a person with a disability is treated less favourably than a person without the disability would be treated in the same or similar circumstances. An example of direct disability discrimination would be refusing a job to a suitably qualified person on the grounds that they use a wheelchair.

Indirect Disability Discrimination occurs when a requirement condition or practice that is the same for everyone has an unfair effect on people with disabilities or on a person with a particular disability. For example requiring an applicant who uses a wheelchair to attend a job interview in a building that can only be accessed by stairs.

People with a disability are protected against discrimination in relation to:

• Recruitment processes such as advertising, interviewing, and other selection processes
• Decisions about who will get a job
• Terms and conditions of employment such as rates of pay, hours of work and leave
• Promotion, transfer, training and other benefits associated with employment, or
• Dismissal or any other detriment such as demotion or retrenchment.

Contractors

The DDA also covers contract work, bodies with control over professional trade or occupational qualifications, federally registered trade unions and employment agencies. It would be unlawful for an employment agency not to refer a person with a disability to a job if he or she can do the job.

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