Action Plan – A public statement made by an Education Provider to say
what they are doing to make sure they do not discriminate. Action Plans are
voluntary. An Education Provider writes them up and then gives them to AHRC
to be made public through the AHRC website. AHRC reviews and approves
the Action Plan before it is posted on the site.
Adjustment – Action that is taken to help a student with disability take part
in an education program on the same basis as other students. An Adjustment
is Reasonable if it meets the needs of the student with disability without
impacting too much on the other people involved.
(See also Reasonable Adjustment.)
people in a business relationship.AHRC– Australian Human Rights Commission. This organisation helps people
with disability when they make a complaint about an Education Provider that
is not obeying the Education Standards.
under the DDA for people with disability.
everywhere in Australia and is looked after by the Australian Human Rights Commission.Education Provider – Any organisation that educates or trains people.
Examples are:
• Pre-schools and kindergartens (but not childcare centres)
• Public and private schools
• Public education and training places, such as TAFE institutes
• Private education and training places, such as private business colleges
• Universities
• Organisations that prepare or run training and education programs
Education Standards – Standards that set out the Rights of students with
disability under the DDA in the area of education. They also set out the
Obligations of the Education Providers such as schools and universities under
the DDA to assist students with disability in the area of education.
Exceptions – Situations where an Education Provider can discriminate against
a student with disability without breaking the law. Exceptions included in the
Education Standards are:
• Unjustifiable hardship
• Protection of public health
• Court orders or acts done under special laws
• Special measures
disability in a way that makes that person upset, unhappy or scared.Measures for Compliance – Things that Education Providers could do when
trying to meet their Obligations. They are not legal requirements. An Education
Provider may be able to meet its obligations in a number of different ways that
are not necessarily listed in the Measures for Compliance.
Obligations-Things that Education Providers must do to respect the rights of
students with disability. They are legal requirements and disobeying them is
against the law, unless an Exception applies.
to identify these laws and make them public. Currently there are only a small
number of such laws.
Reasonable Adjustments – An Adjustment is reasonable if it meets the needs
of the student with disability without impacting too much on other people. To
determine if an Adjustment is reasonable, an Education Provider must consider:
• The barriers, needs or challenges that face a student with disability
• The views of the student or their Associate
• Whether an Adjustment will impact on the academic standards or
requirements of the course
• What advantages or disadvantages the Adjustments may create for the
people affected by it
• The costs of making the AdjustmentRights – What a student with disability can expect from an Education Provider.
The most important Right is that a student with disability has the opportunity
to participate in education on the same basis as students without disability.
Special Measures -Actions or services taken to assist or help people with
disability. These services will usually only be available to people with disability and no other people. Special Measures are sometimes called positive
discrimination.
Unjustifiable Hardship – An Exception that allows an Education Provider to
refuse to make an Adjustment because the cost involved and the impact on
the Education Provider and other people would be too great. The Education
Provider must prove that an Adjustment would cause it Unjustifiable Hardship.
To do this, the Education Provider must look at:
• The benefits or disadvantages that would result from making the Reasonable Adjustment
• The effect of the disability of the student in question
• Its own financial position and the costs of making the Reasonable Adjustment
making Disability Discrimination complaint or if they have already made one.
Victimisation is a crime.