Resolved complaint (235) about disability discrimination in goods, services and facilities
Learn how a complaint (235) about disability discrimination in goods, services and facilities was resolved through conciliation.
Summary
- Year: 2025
- Relevant Act: Disability Discrimination Act
- Grounds: Disability aid; Disability
- Area(s): Goods, services and facilities
- Settlement terms:
- Compensation
- EEO/anti-discrimination training delivered
- Settlement amount: $7,000
About the complaint
The complainant’s son is deaf, uses a cochlear implant and communicates primarily by using sign language. She alleged the respondent out-of-school-hours care provider stopped offering services to her son because of alleged incidents in which he did not follow spoken instructions or did not speak to other children with kindness. She alleged the service did not consider providing her son with reasonable adjustments.
The service advised that a medical management plan for the complainant’s son on commencement listed deafness and attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder as current medical conditions. The service claimed the complainant’s son displayed challenging behaviours soon after commencing with the service. The service said it formed the view the complainant’s son would need additional support and that it may need to hire more staff. The service said it tried to engage with the complainant to discuss her son’s needs but the complainant would only engage by email. The service said it stopped offering care for the complainant’s son because he continued to engage in challenging behaviours and it was unable to engage with the complainant about her son’s disability-related needs.
The complaint was resolved by conciliation with an agreement that the service pay the complainant $7,000 and provide deafness awareness training to its staff.
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This is a summary of a selected complaint that has been resolved through our conciliation process. It's designed to help people better understand how complaints might be resolved and what outcomes are possible.
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