Ships a consumer interface, in Australia

Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth), ss. 24, 5-6, 11 and 29A · Read the law's page

• The Act names no technical standard for a website or app: the duty is the rule in section 24 against discriminating on the ground of disability in providing goods, services or facilities, tested by the direct and indirect discrimination rules in sections 5 and 6; the Commission's Guidelines, which are not legally binding, read it to reach websites and apps and advise conformance with WCAG 2.2 at Level AA.
• If you provide goods or services, or make facilities available, whether for payment or not, do not refuse to provide them to a person, or provide them on worse terms or conditions or in a worse manner, because of the person’s disability (section 24).
• Make reasonable adjustments for a person with a disability where failing to do so would leave the person treated less favorably than a person without the disability would be treated in circumstances that are not materially different (section 5(2)); an adjustment is reasonable unless making it would impose an unjustifiable hardship on you (section 4(1)).
• Do not require a person to comply with a requirement or condition that they cannot meet because of disability, or could meet only if you made reasonable adjustments you do not make, where it disadvantages persons with that disability, unless the requirement or condition is reasonable having regard to the circumstances of the case; you must prove that it is reasonable (section 6).
• If you rely on unjustifiable hardship (sections 11 and 29A), you must prove it, taking account of all relevant circumstances, including the benefit or detriment to the people concerned, the effect of the disability, your financial circumstances and the estimated expenditure required, the financial and other assistance available to you, and any relevant action plan given to the Commission.
• Do not harass a person with a disability who wants to acquire your goods or services or use your facilities, in relation to the disability (section 39).
• Do not ask a customer, on a form or otherwise, for information in connection with providing your goods, services or facilities that you would not ask of a person without the disability in circumstances that are not materially different, or that relates to the disability, unless you can produce unrebutted evidence that none of your purposes was to discriminate unlawfully (section 30).
• Do not subject or threaten to subject a person to any detriment because the person has complained, brought proceedings, given information or asserted rights under the Act (sections 42 and 58A); do not incite, assist or promote an act unlawful under Division 1, 2, 2A or 3 of Part 2 (section 43); and do not publish or display an advertisement or notice indicating an intention to do such an act (section 44).
• Do not cause, instruct, induce, aid or permit another person to do an act that is unlawful under Division 1, 2, 2A, 3 or 6 of Part 2; you are taken also to have done it (section 122), and conduct engaged in for you by a director, employee or agent within actual or apparent authority is treated as yours unless you took reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence to avoid it (section 123).
• Comply with any disability standard made under section 31 that applies to your conduct: contravening one is unlawful (section 32), and acting in accordance with one takes your act outside Part 2 other than Division 2A (section 34).
• Part 2 does not make unlawful a special measure reasonably intended to give persons with a disability equal opportunities or meet their special needs (section 45), insurance and superannuation discrimination based on actuarial or statistical data on which it is reasonable to rely (section 46, though discrimination in life insurance based on protected genetic information is taken not to be reasonable, section 46(3)), acts in direct compliance with a court order or a prescribed law (section 47), or acts reasonably necessary to protect public health where the disability is an infectious disease (section 48).
• You may apply to the Commission for an exemption from a provision of Division 1 or 2, granted for a period of no more than 5 years and on the terms it specifies; an act done in accordance with the exemption is not unlawful (sections 55 and 58).
• You may prepare an action plan covering the matters in section 61 and give it to the Commission, which makes it public; a relevant action plan given to the Commission is one of the circumstances weighed in deciding unjustifiable hardship (sections 11(1)(e), 60, 61 and 64).

Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Cth), Parts 3, 4, 6 and 10 · Read the law's page

• If you are an education provider, including a private school, a private training provider, a Registered Training Organisation or a higher education provider, take reasonable steps to ensure that a prospective student with a disability can seek admission or apply for enrollment on the same basis as a prospective student without a disability, consulting the student or an associate and making any necessary reasonable adjustment (ss. 2.1 and 4.2).
• The measures the Standards name for enrollment include making information about your enrollment processes accessible and available in a range of formats, and designing enrollment procedures that a student or associate can complete without undue difficulty (s. 4.3).
• Take reasonable steps to design each course or program so that a student with a disability can participate in its learning experiences, including assessment and certification, on the same basis as other students, whatever the mode of delivery, on-line delivery included (ss. 1.5 and 6.2(1)).
• Where a student with a disability is enrolled in a course or program, consult the student or an associate, decide whether an adjustment is necessary, make any reasonable adjustment within a reasonable time, and repeat the process as the student's needs change (ss. 3.5, 3.7 and 6.2(2) and (3)).
• The measures the Standards name for courses include making the curriculum, teaching materials and assessment accessible to the student, and supplying study materials in an appropriate format without the student being disadvantaged by the time taken to convert them (s. 6.3).
• If you provide educational early childhood services, these duties have applied to you since 1 August 2026 as if you were an educational institution (s. 1.5(2)).
• A requirement does not apply to the extent that compliance would impose unjustifiable hardship (other than a requirement in Part 8 on harassment and victimization), but you must comply to the maximum extent not involving it and must demonstrate that the exception operates; you may maintain a course's academic requirements and other requirements inherent in or essential to its nature (ss. 3.4(3), 10.1 and 10.2).

Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (Cth), s. 25.2 and Parts 27 and 28 · Read the law's page

• If you operate a public transport service, or supply or maintain its conveyances, premises or infrastructure, make information about the service that you provide in an online format, such as a website or mobile web system, meet at least Level AA conformance under WCAG 2.1 (s. 27.7); this applies to new, or substantially refurbished or altered, digital services provided on or after 13 October 2026 (s. 35.23).
• Make any information and communication technology you intend for public use accessible to persons with disabilities, for procurements made on or after 13 October 2026 (ss. 27.10 and 35.23).
• Make the hardware and software of a fare system that members of the public use comply with sections 8 and 11 of AS EN 301 549 (2020), and the system's audio output and tactile speech-mode features comply with its clauses 5.1.3.1, 5.1.3.3 and 8.5, for fare system elements installed on or after 13 October 2026; do not require more of a person with a disability than of others, and provide another way of paying that does not cost more (ss. 25.2 and 35.22).
• Make general information about your transport services accessible to all passengers, and where you cannot supply information in a passenger's preferred format, give equivalent access by direct assistance (ss. 27.1 and 27.2).
• Reproduce a document about transport services in large print on request, in at least 18 point sans serif type weighted semi-bold or bold, left justified with a ragged right margin, and black on a light background or with a luminance contrast of at least 75% (s. 27.3).
• After the 5-year transitional period that began on 13 October 2026, do not provide general information about transport services (timetables, routes, fares, payment methods, next stop and next service information) solely in an online format; provide infrequently requested formats in a timely manner and braille on request; provide information about a planned disruption in a variety of formats; and publish the accessibility features of your conveyances, premises and infrastructure (ss. 27.1(2) and (3), 27.2(2) and (3), 27.5, 27.8, 27.9 and 35.23).
• If you run booked coach, ferry, dial-a-ride or train services, ask for no longer advance notice of a requirement for accessible travel than you ask of other passengers (s. 28.2); on booked services, including aircraft, keep accessible seats for passengers with disabilities (s. 28.4), and after the 5-year transitional period let them book seats suited to their traveling needs in each class of travel (ss. 28.4(3) and (4) and 35.24).
• A requirement does not apply to the extent that compliance would impose unjustifiable hardship, judged on the factors in section 33.7(3), but you must comply to the maximum extent not involving it; you may meet a requirement by equivalent access after consulting passengers with disabilities, and the Commission may grant an exemption for up to 5 years (ss. 33.3 to 33.7 and 33A.1).