DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT: HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
Under the Federal Disability Discrimination Act 1992 amended 2009 (hereafter DDA) all assistance dogs are guaranteed access to all public places in Australia.
According to the DDA, if your assistance dog is appropriately trained and certified to assist you, and meets acceptable standards of hygiene and behaviour, then access to public spaces and services is guaranteed.
An assistance animal is a trained support designed to facilitate the participation of people with disability in accessing various aspects of personal and public life. They are sometimes mistaken as a pet but provide an essential function for some people with disability
The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) (DDA) in Section 9, sets out the legal definition of an assistance animal as a dog or other animal that:
(a) is accredited under a State or Territory law to assist a person with a disability to alleviate the effects of disability; or
(b) is accredited by an animal training organisation prescribed in the regulations; or
(c) is trained to assist a person with a disability to alleviate the effect of the disability and meets standards of hygiene and behaviour that are appropriate for an animal in a public place.
This Part does not render it unlawful for a person (the discriminator ) to discriminate against the person with the disability on the ground of the disability, if:
- the discriminator reasonably suspects that the assistance animal has an infectious disease; AND
- the discrimination is reasonably necessary to protect public health or the health of other animals.
You are also obliged to produce evidence that your dog is a legitimate assistance animal when asked.