What is a disability defined as?
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and Anti-Discrimination Act (ADA) use different definitions of disability.
Anti-Discrimination Act (ADA) (NSW 1977) defines a disability as:
- Total or partial loss of a person’s bodily or mental functions or of a part of a person’s body; or
- The presence in a persons body of organisms causing or capable of causing disease or illness; or
- The malfunction, malformation or disfigurement of a part of a person’s body; or
- A disorder or malfunction that results in a person learning differently from a person without the disorder or malfunction; or
- A disorder, illness or disease that affects a person’s thought processes, perception of reality, emotions or judgment or that results in disturbed behaviour
Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) (Commonwealth 1992) defines a disability as:
- Total or partial loss of the person’s bodily or mental functions; or
- Total or partial loss of a part of the body; or
- The presence in the body of organisms causing disease or illness; or
- The presence in the body of organisms capable of causing disease or illness; or
- The malfunction, malformation or disfigurement of a part of the person’s body; or
- A disorder or malfunction that results in the person learning differently from a person without the disorder or malfunction; or
- A disorder, illness or disease that affects a person’s thought processes, perception of reality, emotions or judgment, or that results in disturbed behaviour, and includes a disability that:
- Presently exists; or
- Previously existed but no longer exists; or
- May exist in the future; or
- Is imputed to a person
The DDA and ADA also cover:
Future disability: A condition which runs in the family which you may develop in the future.
Imputed disability: Something someone believes another person has, whether or not they do. For example, someone may believe a gay man has HIV/AIDS.
Temporary disability: A disability that exists for a short period of time and isn