Laws that apply to service providers

When providing services to people with disability, you must follow all legislation, regulations, by-laws and requirements that apply where you operate. This includes Commonwealth, state, territory and local laws. Find out more about the main laws that apply to service providers.

Anti-discrimination law

Service providers must give people with disability support and help that: 

• doesn’t discriminate
• complies with the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act 1992.

The Disability Discrimination Act defines ‘disability’ as:

• total or partial loss of a person’s bodily or mental functions
• total or partial loss of a part of the body
• the presence in the body of organisms causing disease or illness
• the malfunction, malformation or disfigurement of a part of a person’s body
• a disorder or malfunction that results in a person learning differently from a person without the disorder or malfunction
• a disorder, illness or disease that affects a person’s thought processes, perception of reality, emotions or judgement, or that results in disturbed behaviour.

For more information, visit the Australian Human Rights Commission’s A brief guide to the Disability Discrimination Act.

Privacy law

The Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 protects all employees’ rights to privacy. For more information on privacy law, visit the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website.

If an employee discloses a disability, you are required to keep all information about the disability confidential. In order to share information about an employee’s disability with others in your organisation, you must get consent from the employee.

Duty of care

Providers of services to people with disability have a duty of care to people with disability. They need to act with care, attention and caution.

For example, when advising people with disability and employers, you must make sure that the person has understood the information. This includes considering personal barriers the person might face, such as with language and literacy.