Legal system barriers to the effectiveness of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) as a support for the inclusion of students with disability

Abstract

The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) (DDA) appears to offer powerful remedies to students who have been refused enrolment, excluded after enrolment or denied educational opportunities or benefits because of their disability. The Act prohibits discrimination on the ground of disability in the protected area of education and obligates reasonable adjustment for disability. Over the course of its thirty-year history, court action taken under the DDA has disappointed more students than it has helped. Legislation like the DDA operates within a broader legal system and its remedial effect is affected by that system. Barriers to inclusion have risen from the legal system surrounding the DDA, a system which is complaints-based, adversarial and expensive. An analysis of those barriers is the focus of this article.