Review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 – Submission of All Means All

All Means All has made a comprehensive submission to the Australian Government’s Review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) (DDA), calling for reform to ensure the Act delivers on Australia’s human rights obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and in particular the right of people with disability to inclusive education.

The submission provides a roadmap for modernising the DDA to make it a genuine vehicle for equality and inclusion.

The submission emphasises that while the DDA has been in operation for over three decades, it has failed to secure the systemic change needed to end discrimination and realise the right of all students to inclusive education. It calls for a shift from a reactive, complaints-based model to a proactive framework that drives structural reform and accountability and is aligned to the principles in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities (CRPD), which Australia ratified in 2008.

Key recommendations include:

• Reforming definitions and objects of the DDA to remove outdated, medicalised language and reflect disability as part of human diversity
• Embedding the principle of inclusive equality in line with the CRPD.
• Introducing a positive duty on education providers to eliminate discrimination and progressively realise inclusive education.
• Establishing a clear duty to provide adjustments, removing the confusing qualifier “reasonable.”
• Strengthening enforcement and accountability, including through greater powers for the Australian Human Rights Commission.
• Recognising intersectional discrimination and embedding the participation of people with disability in all aspects of implementation and oversight.

These reforms are essential to ensuring every learner can access and thrive in an inclusive education system that values diversity and belonging.

“A strong, CRPD-consistent Disability Discrimination Act is vital to realising inclusive education and ensuring that no child is denied their right to learn and participate alongside their peers.”
— All Means All – The Australian Alliance for Inclusive Education

The submission has been endorsed by the following organisations.

Download the full submission: