How To Deal With Disability Discrimination In The Workplace

Disability discrimination at work is rarely announced. It shows up as the adjustment that never arrives, the shifts quietly reallocated after you disclose a condition, the role that is suddenly restructured, or the manager who treats a medical certificate as a performance problem.

It is also the largest single category of complaint the Australian Human Rights Commission receives, so if this is happening to you, you are not an unusual case. This guide covers what the law actually requires, where employers are allowed to say no, and what to do about it.

What Counts as Disability Discrimination in the Workplace

Disability discrimination in the workplace means being treated unfavourably because of a disability, rather than because of your conduct or your actual capacity to do the job.

In practice it covers far more than hiring decisions. It reaches recruitment and interviews, the terms you are employed on, access to training and promotion, rosters and duties, the physical workplace itself, how performance is managed, and dismissal or redundancy. A refusal to make a workplace accessible is as much a problem as a refusal to hire.

One point matters more than people expect. A disability discrimination claim does not rely on the motive or the intent of the person who discriminated. An employer who genuinely meant well, or who simply never thought about it, can still have discriminated. The question is the effect on you, not the state of mind of the decision maker.

How the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 Defines Disability

The definition in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 is deliberately broad, and many people are covered without realising it.

It includes physical, intellectual, psychiatric, sensory, neurological and learning disabilities, as well as physical disfigurement and the presence in the body of a disease-causing organism such as HIV.

Crucially, the protection is not limited to a disability you have right now. It also covers:

• a disability you had in the past
• a disability you may have in the future
• a disability people think you have, which the law calls imputed disability
• discrimination against you because of your relative, friend or carer with disability

Those last two matter in real workplaces. An employee passed over because a manager assumes a past episode of illness will recur is covered. So is a carer treated unfavourably because of someone else’s disability.

Note the name of the Act, because it is commonly written incorrectly. It is the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, not the Disabilities Discrimination Act.

Direct and Indirect Disability Discrimination at Work

The law splits disability discrimination into two forms, and the second is the one most often missed.

Direct discrimination is treating a person with disability less favourably than a person without disability in the same or similar circumstances. Refusing entry to a blind person with a guide dog is the textbook example. At work it looks like withdrawing an offer after a disability is disclosed.

Indirect discrimination is a rule, requirement or practice that applies to everyone but has an unfair impact on people with a particular disability. A building whose only entrance is a flight of stairs is the standard illustration. In an office it might be a mandatory in-person meeting schedule, a blanket rule against flexible hours, or software that a screen reader cannot use.

Indirect discrimination is where most workplace cases actually sit, because the policy looks neutral and nobody set out to exclude anyone. That does not make it lawful.

Reasonable Adjustments: What Your Employer Must Consider

This is the heart of disability discrimination law at work, and the thing most disputes come down to.

Reasonable adjustments are administrative, environmental or procedural changes made at work so that an employee with disability can perform their role. They are not favours and they are not special treatment. Your employer is required to consider them, and the Fair Work Ombudsman sets out the parallel protections that apply to employees with disability.

They are often far smaller than people imagine. Changed start and finish times. Working from home on treatment days. A different chair, desk or lighting. Screen-reading or voice-recognition software. Reallocating one non-important duty. More frequent short breaks. Written instructions instead of verbal ones. Many cost little or nothing, and the Australian Government’s Employment Assistance Fund can help with the cost of those that do not.

Two practical points. Ask in writing, and describe the barrier and the adjustment rather than your diagnosis. “I need written agendas before meetings so I can prepare” is a workable request. You are generally not required to hand over your medical history to justify it.

Unjustifiable Hardship, and When an Employer Can Say No

An employer is not required to make an adjustment that would impose unjustifiable hardship, meaning major difficulties or unreasonable costs.

The detail that matters to you is this: the employer has to show it. The burden sits with them to demonstrate how the adjustment would cause that hardship, taking account of things like the size and resources of the business and the actual cost involved. “We can’t do that” asserted in a meeting is not unjustifiable hardship. A documented assessment of cost and disruption might be.

So if an adjustment is refused, ask for the reason in writing. Either you receive a reasoned explanation, which tells you where you stand, or you do not, which is itself informative if the matter goes further.

Inherent Requirements: The Exception That Decides Many Cases

The second exception is the inherent requirements of the position, meaning the important duties the job genuinely cannot be done without.

It is not unlawful for an employer to decline to employ someone who, because of their disability, cannot perform those inherent requirements. The Commission’s own example is a person with low vision applying for a delivery driver role.

But there is a condition attached that employers frequently skip. Reasonable adjustments must be considered first. The question is never simply “can you do this job as it is currently designed?” It is “can you do the important duties of this job with reasonable adjustments in place?” An employer who jumps to the inherent requirements argument without having genuinely explored adjustments has not applied the test properly.

It is also worth separating important duties from incidental ones. Occasional tasks that could be reallocated without affecting the role are rarely inherent requirements, however long they have sat in the position description.

Do You Have to Tell Your Employer About Your Disability?

Generally, no. You do not have an obligation to share information about your disability with an employer or a prospective employer, and the decision to tell anyone is yours.

There is one practical exception. If you need a reasonable adjustment in order to meet the inherent requirements of the job, you will need to tell the employer enough for that adjustment to be made. You can do that without disclosing a diagnosis. Describing the barrier and the adjustment is usually sufficient.

JobAccess has practical guidance on talking about your disability at work if you are weighing it up. Disclosure is also not all or nothing. You can tell one manager and not the whole team, and information about your health is personal information your employer is expected to handle accordingly. If your disability was shared more widely than you agreed to, that is worth raising in its own right.

How to Build a Record of Disability Discrimination at Work

Disability cases turn on documents more than most, because the central question is usually what was requested and what the employer did about it.

Keep a dated log somewhere your employer cannot access, and make sure it captures the adjustment thread specifically: when you asked, exactly what you asked for, who you asked, what response you got, how long it took, and what happened to your duties, hours or performance ratings afterwards.

Then gather the supporting material. Your position description, which is the starting point for any inherent requirements argument. Emails requesting and responding to adjustments. Rosters and timesheets showing changes. Performance reviews from before and after disclosure. Any workplace policy on accessibility or flexible work. The comparison between the documented role and how you were actually treated is where these cases are won or lost.

How to Raise Disability Discrimination With Your Employer

Internal resolution is faster than any external process, and external bodies will ask what you tried first.

Put it in writing, even if you have raised it in conversation. Set out the adjustment you need, the barrier it removes, and the outcome you want. Keep it focused on the job rather than on your condition. If your direct manager is the problem, most policies name an alternative such as HR, a more senior manager or a contact officer.

Ask for a response by a specific date. Adjustment requests tend to die from drift rather than refusal, and a date turns silence into something you can point to later. If there is a union, an employee representative or an employee assistance program, use them.

Where to Complain About Disability Discrimination

You generally cannot run the same complaint in two forums at once, and lodging in one can close another off. If a dismissal is involved, the 21-day clock is the one to check first.

Disability Discrimination in Australia: What the Complaint Data Shows

Two figures put your situation in context.

Disability is the single largest ground of complaint the Australian Human Rights Commission handles. In 2022-23 it received 1,190 complaints under the Disability Discrimination Act, 46% of all complaints received that year, ahead of sex at 22% and race at 19%. In 2023-24, employment was the second most common area for those complaints at 29%, behind goods, services and facilities at 33%.

The employment backdrop is the second figure. People with disability are more than twice as likely to be unemployed as people without disability. A 2024 Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre estimate put the value of lifting disability employment by 10% at $16 billion a year in national output, which is a reminder that this is a structural problem rather than a run of individual bad managers.

Neither number tells you whether your own complaint will succeed. What they do tell you is that disability is the most common thing Australians complain about to the Commission, and raising it puts you in the mainstream rather than the margins.

How to Deal With Disability Discrimination in the Workplace: Where to Start

Four steps, in this order.

1. Put your adjustment request in writing, describing the barrier and the change you need rather than your diagnosis, and ask for a response by a set date.
2. If it is refused, ask for the reason in writing. Unjustifiable hardship has to be demonstrated by the employer, not asserted.
3. Pull your position description and work out what the inherent requirements genuinely are, separating important duties from incidental ones.
4. If a dismissal or demotion is involved, check the date immediately, because the 21-day Fair Work clock is already running. Get advice from your union, a community legal centre or an employment lawyer before lodging anything.

For the general pathways, evidence and deadlines that apply to every kind of workplace discrimination, the companion guide on how to deal with discrimination in the workplace as an employee goes into more detail. If you are not yet sure the treatment relates to your disability at all, start with unfair treatment at work.

From the employer side, getting this right is mostly about having accessible policies, current training and an adjustments process that actually responds. Sentrient’s workplace compliance system and online compliance courses are built for that, and the manager guide covers responding to a complaint.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is disability discrimination in the workplace illegal in Australia?
Yes. It is unlawful under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, and the Fair Work Act also protects employees from adverse action taken because of physical or mental disability. Every state and territory has its own anti-discrimination law as well.

Does my employer have to give me the adjustment I ask for?
Your employer must consider reasonable adjustments and make them unless doing so would cause unjustifiable hardship, meaning major difficulties or unreasonable costs. The employer has to be able to demonstrate that hardship, not simply assert it.

Do I have to disclose my disability?
Generally no. The decision is yours. The exception is where you need an adjustment to meet the inherent requirements of the role, in which case you need to tell your employer enough for the adjustment to be made. You can usually do that without naming a diagnosis.

What are inherent requirements?
The important duties the job genuinely cannot be done without. An employer can lawfully decline to employ someone who cannot perform them, but only after reasonable adjustments have been considered. Incidental tasks that could be reallocated are rarely inherent requirements.

Does it count if my employer did not mean to discriminate?
Yes. A disability discrimination claim does not rely on the motive or intent of the person who discriminated. The effect is what matters, which is why indirect discrimination through a neutral-looking policy is still unlawful.

Am I protected if I no longer have the disability?
Yes. The Act covers past disability, possible future disability, and imputed disability, meaning a disability people believe you have. It also protects you from discrimination because of a relative, friend or carer with disability.

How long do I have to complain?
For a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission, the President may terminate a complaint lodged more than 24 months after the conduct. If you were dismissed, a Fair Work application must generally be lodged within 21 days. State and territory limits are set separately and are often shorter.

Can I be performance managed while I am waiting for an adjustment?
Performance management is generally lawful management action, but the timing and the context matter. If performance concerns appeared only after you disclosed a disability or requested an adjustment, record the sequence carefully and raise it, because that pattern is exactly what a complaint would examine.

Sources

Australian Human Rights Commission, Disability Discrimination Act 1992

Fair Work Ombudsman, Employees with disability

JobAccess, Talking about your disability at work

Australian Human Rights Commission, 1,190 complaints

Australian Human Rights Commission, More than twice as likely to be unemployed

Last reviewed: October 2026

Read More About Discrimination In The Workplace:

• How To Deal With Discrimination In The Workplace As An Employee
• How To Deal With Unfair Treatment In The Workplace
• 12 Common Types Of Discrimination In The Workplace
• How To Deal With Discrimination In The Workplace As A Manager
• What Are Examples Of Age Discrimination In The Workplace?