Tip 9 - Get to know your rights and responsibilities
- Get to know your rights. There are laws that protect your rights as a person with disability.
- Having rights also means having responsibilities. Your responsibilities are just as important as your rights.
- The best way to protect your rights in study, training or work is to also know and meet your responsibilities.
- The Disability Discrimination Act is designed to ensure that people with a disability aren't treated less fairly than people without a disability. It covers a range of life areas, including access, education, employment, activities and sport.
- Building on the Disability Discrimination Act, there are specific Disability Standards for Education. These standards set out the rights of people with disabilities particularly in education settings. This includes at school, TAFE or university.
- Education providers are responsible for making reasonable adjustments to enable people with disabilities to participate in education on the same basis as other students.
- It is important to consider the issue of disclosure.
- Disclosing means intentionally telling other people about your disability or chronic medical condition.
- What are you prepared to tell people about your disability?
- Who will you tell?
- When will you tell?
- You may choose to disclose different amounts of information about your disability to different people or for different purposes.
- It is very important that you know your rights with regard to disclosure and make informed decisions.
- For example, did you know that you do not have to disclose your disability to others – unless you want to access reasonable adjustments?
- And if you do choose to disclose, did you know that you only have to disclose to certain people and not to everyone?
- A great resource to help you make important decisions about disclosure is the Choosing your Path website.
