Protecting the privacy of staff with disability

An employee doesn’t need to tell you about their disability unless it affects their work or safety. If they do tell you, you need to make sure you respect their privacy and treat them fairly.

When an employee has to tell you about their disability

 An employee has to tell their employer about their disability if:

• the disability affects their ability to do their job or a specific task that’s part of their job
• the disability affects their ability to work safely and make sure others are safe.

Outside of these reasons, an employee doesn’t have to tell an employer about their disability. 

If an employee tells you about their disability, you must provide a supportive and understanding workplace.

Understanding the right to privacy

Information about a person’s disability can include sensitive personal details. If an employee tells you about their disability, you must keep it private.

You need to respect their right to privacy. If you want to share information about an employee’s disability, you must get their written consent. 

Keeping the employee’s information private will help them to feel safe. It will make them more open about issues disability related issues.

The Privacy Act 1988 protects all employees’ rights to privacy. You can find more details about the Privacy Act at the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website.

For more support, the Australian Network on Disability has a guide for employers called Sharing and Monitoring Disability Information in your Workforce.

Avoiding discrimination

If an employee tells you about their disability, consider any training or work-related adjustments you might need to make to support them. 

To make sure you’re treating them fairly you must follow the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. Under this law: 

• don’t treat a person with disability differently than you would treat a person without disability in the same situation
• you must protect employees with disability from harassment in the workplace.

Find out more about guidelines on workplace discrimination.