Mentally disabled people, such as clinically depressed people, have had difficulties in access to employment and higher education. Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) (1995) has been in force since 2 December 1996, completing the fifth year of its implementation on 2 December 2001 and its stated purpose has included ending of discrimination in access to employment by disabled people among others. The introduction of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA) (2001) as well as the Disability Discrimination (Amendment) Bill (DDAB) (2002) has revived the debate on the effectiveness of the DDA in increasing access to employment by disabled people but particularly by mentally disabled people. The paper therefore reviews the law and practice on the employment of clinically depressed people. It is argued that the devised rules on the discrimination tests have not succeeded in ending discrimination against disabled people in access to employment. It is further noted that since the SENDA uses the similar tests as the DDA, it would fail to end discrimination against disabled students in access to higher education.
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