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Established in 1986, the Australian Human Rights Commission is a statutory organisation that exercises functions under federal laws that govern; age, disability, racial and sex discrimination human rights and equal opportunity and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice.

The Commission seeks to promote and protect human rights through submissions to parliamentary inquiries, government departments and law reform bodies.

A woman who uses a wheelchair complained that when she took her 11 year old nephew to a museum as part of an interstate family holiday, he was denied access to important parts of the collection on the basis of her disability. Children under 12 were required to be accompanied by an adult; access to some of the exhibits was not feasible for the complainant because of her disability; and the respondent had declined a request to permit the boy to be accompanied by a museum staff member instead.

The Commonwealth relies upon Australia's response to the UNHRC's decision in A v Australia.(34) Nothing flows from that response. The UNHRC hears individual complaints of violations of the ICCPR (called "communications") under the First Optional Protocol to the ICCPR. (35) Australia is a party to the First Optional Protocol. (36) The decisions or "views" of the UNHRC regarding those communications do not constitute legally binding decisions in international law. (37) However, as the UNHRC has noted:

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) makes this submission to the Australia 2020 Summit in its inquiry into ‘Future Directions for the Australian Economy - Education, skills, training, innovation and productivity’.

The DDA covers discrimination on the ground of disability, including discrimination because of the use of a therapeutic device or aid, accompaniment by a carer or assistant or accompaniment by an assistance animal.