Disability Discrimination and Higher Education in England and Wales and Australia Compared

Abstract

In its original form the provisions of the UK Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) contained little of practical help to students with disabilities. This situation was rectified when the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Act (SENDA) was passed in 2001 becoming the new Part 4 of the DDA. From 2002 legal duties not to discriminate against students with disabilities came into effect. In the Commonwealth of Australia a very different attitude towards disability discrimination has been demonstrated by having legislation to combat disability discrimination in place since 1992, which included specific provisions on education from the outset.

The purpose of this article is to examine the approach taken in both jurisdictions towards the use of the anti-discrimination statutes and consider the effectiveness of the legislation in preventing discrimination on the ground of disability in higher education. The paper will examine points of similarity and divergence in the respective systems regarding the application of anti-disability discrimination laws to higher education as well as look to the longer established jurisprudence of the Australian courts for potential guidance that may be helpful to the nascent Part 4 of the DDA and the types of issues that may arise.

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