Australian Disability Discrimination Act 1992

The DDA protects people with disabilities including people with permanent disabilities like physical, intellectual, sensory, neurological, learning and psychosocial disabilities, or temporary disabilities like medical conditions, illnesses or injury. The law covers disabilities in the past, present and ones that may be incurred in the future, as well as assumed disabilities. It also protects people who are personally connected or affected by people with disabilities, like a parent, friend, child, or coworker, if they are somehow discriminated against based on their relationship to the person with a disability.

The DDA also protects against discrimination and harassment of people because of the following factors:

• They are accompanied by an assistant, carer, interpreter, or reader
• They require the presence of a trained assistance animal, such as a guide or hearing dog
• They use equipment or aids, such as a wheelchair, canes, or a hearing aid

The DDA applies to all persons and institutions working in the following areas:

• Employment
• Education
• Access to premises used by the public
• Provision of goods, services and facilities
• Accommodation
• Buying land
• Activities of clubs and associations
• Sport
• Administration of Commonwealth Government laws and programs
   

Under the DDA, it is unlawful to discriminate against a person with a disability in providing information and online services through the web, unless providing equal access would cause unjustifiable hardship. Individuals and organizations that own or develop a website should provide equal access to people with disabilities where they reasonably can.

This includes websites and other web resources, like PDFs and documents, that are involved in:

• Employment
• Education
• Provision of services including professional services, banking, insurance or financial services, entertainment or recreation, telecommunications services, public transport services, or government services (including federal, state, and local government councils, departments, and agencies)
• Sale or rental of real estate
• Sport
• Activities of voluntary associations
• Administration of Commonwealth laws and programs

Web accessibility guidance is provided by the Australian Human Rights Commission's Guidelines on Equal Access to Digital Goods and Services (2025), which replaced the earlier World Wide Web Access: Disability Discrimination Act Advisory Notes (version 4.1, 2014). The guidelines are not legal requirements but assist individuals and organizations that own or develop web resources in understanding the requirements of the DDA. While not having legal force, this document is still used by the Australian Human Rights Commission as a reference when dealing with any DDA complaints filed.

The DDA offers individuals with disabilities a means to file complaints and seek redress for disability discrimination in the listed areas of public life. If a person feels like they have been discriminated against or harassed on the grounds of their disability, they can submit a written complaint detailing the events that ensued to the Australian Human Rights Commission via their online form.

The Commission will then launch an investigation on the issue by looking into the events recounted by both parties. Most cases will result in conciliation, an informal process that allows both parties to discuss the issue at hand to try and resolve it. If there is no resolution via conciliation, the person who filed the complaint can take the case to the Federal Court of Australia or the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

In 2000, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission found that the Sydney Olympic Games website was inaccessible to a blind complainant and awarded damages of AUD 20,000.