Ensuring equality in education: how Australian laws are leaving students with print disabilities behind

Abstract

University studies require students to read a large number of textbooks. This paper will build upon an earlier paper in this Review to report on primary research and analyse recent reforms to the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth), which gained royal assent in July 2009. These reforms have repealed and replaced the definition of direct and indirect discrimination. This paper will analyse how the reform of the definition of indirect discrimination has failed to address case law which creates substantial barriers for students with print disabilities. Finally, this paper analyses problems caused when the approach of indirect discrimination from the High Court in State of New South Wales v Amery interacts with the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) Pt VB Div 3.