Equality before the law for people with disability.

This submission is in response to the Australian Law Reform Commission’s review of equal recognition before the law and legal capacity for people with disability. Anti-discrimination law is a key area of focus of the submission. Based on PIAC’s experience, there are a number of issues in relation to Commonwealth anti-discrimination law that may affect the equal recognition before the law of people with disability and their ability to exercise legal capacity. PIAC calls for multiple changes to the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) to address these issues.

PIAC’s submission also addresses issues for people with disability in relation to administrative law, competition and consumer law, privacy law, electoral matters, identification documents, jury service, access to justice, insurance, health care and restrictive practices. People with disability need to be able to make decisions and act on their own behalf.