3.1 Relevant Australian Legislation

3.1.1    Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)

The Federal Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) provides protection for everyone in Australia against discrimination based on disability. It encourages everyone to be involved in implementing the Act and to share in the overall benefits to the community and the economy that flow from participation by the widest range of people.

Disability discrimination happens when people with disabilities are treated less fairly than people without a disability.A brief guide to the Disability Discrimination Act may be accessed online at the website for the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.

A brief guide to the Disability Discrimination Act may be accessed online at the website for the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.

3.1.2    Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 (Cth)

The Act provides for a universal service regime which consists of the universal service obligation (USO). The purpose of the USO is to ensure that all people in Australia, wherever they reside or carry on business, should have reasonable access, on an equitable basis, to the standard telephone service, payphones and prescribed carriage services.

3.1.3    Telecommunications (Equipment for the Disabled) Regulations 1998

These regulations specify the type of equipment that may be supplied for connection to the standard telephone service by people with disabilities.