Submission on the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 Review

Australian Government

Attorney General’s Department

October 2025

About Assistance Dogs Australia

Assistance Dogs Australia (ADA) is a national for-purpose charity dedicated to breeding, training, and placing highly skilled assistance dogs and is an internationally accredited member of Assistance Dogs International (ADI). ADA places assistance dogs with Australians with physical disabilities, autism, or post-traumatic stress. Currently supporting more than two hundred clients nationwide, these life-changing assistance dogs empower connection, promote inclusion and foster independence for Australians with disability.

Led by a belief that cost should never be a barrier to access, Assistance Dogs Australia provides each highly skilled assistance dog completely free of charge. With little government funding and each dog costing more than $60,000 to breed and train, the organisation relies on the generosity of individuals, corporate partners, and philanthropic groups to continue its vital work.

Introduction

Assistance Dogs Australia (ADA) is one of the only national for purpose organisations in Australia breeding, training, and providing assistance dogs for almost 30 years to people with a range of disabilities including physical disability, autism, post-traumatic stress. ADA also provides dogs in schools, correctional centres and partners with organisations that utilise dogs in training to support wellbeing and mental health programs for vulnerable people in the community.

ADA appreciates the opportunity to contribute to the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 Review. The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) is a piece of legislation critical to support those in our society with disability to facilitate greater inclusion, sense of connection and belonging and rightful respect

The problem

Discrimination is faced by ADA clients with an assistance dogs through access refusals which are a result of lack of public education of what constitutes an assistance dog and a verification framework to support.

Evidence of the problem

In early 2025, the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF) and Assistance Dogs International (ADI) released a report ‘Paws for Access – a Global Survey on Assistance Dog Rights’.

This report highlights the extent of discrimination and the challenges faced by people supported by assistance dogs in accessing the community. These challenges are a global occurrence. In Australia, 58% of respondents reported experiencing multiple access refusals in the last 12 months (compared with 56% globally). We believe that the problem is much greater and that our clients do not always make us aware of these refusal situations. ADA clients report that access refusals occur across transport, hospitality venues, retail environments predominantly.

The report also states that the emotional and behavioural impact of refusals can be significant and linger with 59% of handlers in Australia avoiding public places altogether. This has a significant impact on the wellbeing of handlers.

Recommendation Summary

As it relates to Assistance Dogs, we believe reforms are required to extend the protections and better support and protect those with disability who have the benefit of an Assistance Dog for their wellbeing.

This submission is made in respect of the recipients of Assistance Dogs who face discrimination because of having an Assistance Dog, particularly in access to public places and provision of goods and services. It includes recommendations as to how the DDA may be strengthened and clarified when Assistance Dogs are utilised, in addition to further considerations, to support those individuals with disability who are relying on an Assistance Dog for their wellbeing.

For the purposes of this submission, ADA refers to an assistance animal specifically as a dog and believe that assistance dogs should be clearly called out in the legislation as this is the overwhelming animal type trained to provide assistance. This distinguishes specifically from ‘animals’ who provide emotional support including untrained dogs that would not be considered reliably safe to be in a public space. Clarifying this definition will strengthen protections for people with disability. It will ensure that recognised assistance dogs meet verifiable standards of training and behaviour appropriate for public settings.

Updating understandings of disability and disability discrimination

As ADA supports people with invisible disability, including those suffering from PTSD and Autism Spectrum Disorder, we recommend that the language in the DDA should be grounded in the social model of disability and contain language that is specific and robust to apply to all those with disability, including those where disability is not visible.

Stronger protections to stop discrimination before it happens

Positive duty and burden of proof

ADA believes that the burden of proof should not fall on the individual with disability but on the mechanisms that support the proof, including national standards for accreditation, public access licence granting according to these national standards and a national register of all accredited Assistance Dogs.

Such consistency in documentation provides evidence of disability and reaffirms that the dog is trained to support this disability and can be safely working in the public domain.

ADA believes that evidence for the need of an assistance dog should be in the form of a public access licence, as well as a service jacket or harness, that is nationally consistent and instantly recognisable.

Proof of disability should be assessed at the time the application is made to the assistance dog organisation, under confidentiality, and that an authorised and qualified medical practitioner provides this evidence. The obtaining of an assistance dog is a detailed process and should be sufficient proof of a disability.

Adding proof of disability onto the individual in the public domain, by a community member, breaches privacy and confidentiality and creates potential additional barriers for the person with the disability. ADA believes this requirement is unethical and it shifts this burden of proof onto the individual to an unnecessary extent.

Regulation and responsibility should lie with the assistance dog organisation to assess the disability. ADA is of the view that moving to a model where the onus is on the people with disability is detrimental to these people, particularly in the case of post-traumatic stress.

Further to this principle of burden of proof, ADA recommends that a national photo identity card be available in digital format (as default) which reduces the chances of fraudulent documentation and allows for instant updates and/or card cancellations if/when required. Consideration may also be given to offering a physical version as an optional alternative for those who require it due to individual accessibility needs or preferences.

ADA is also strongly in favour of a national photo identity card being available for trainer handlers to allow them to legitimately access the community during training sessions. This is required in legislation nationally as the right to train an assistance dog in public differs by state.

ADA suggests that the global standards for identity cards by guided by Assistance Dogs International as best practice. The card should also provide a link to additional information on the Department of Social Services website, stipulating the basic legal obligations.

Modernising the Disability Discrimination Act

The Issues Paper identifies the need to strengthen and clarify the training requirements for assistance animals, accreditation of training organisations and that the assistance dog meets the standards required to assist alleviate the effect of the disability and meet the standards to be safe in a public domain.

ADA aligns to ADI in identifying four key areas where urgent progress is sought:

Developing a clearer definition of assistance dogs or assistance animals: provide clarity in market and harmonise this definition across all state and territory legislation.

Setting new national standards for the entire assistance dog journey: aligned with established international benchmarks.
Developing a national accreditation and compliance framework: underpinned by a new accreditation scheme for training organisations, a new national ID card for handlers, and greater consequences for non-compliance.
Improve public awareness and education: reduce discrimination against legitimate assistance dog users by making the community more aware of their access rights, and building confidence in how to distinguish between legitimate and fake assistance dogs.

Further, noting the Department of Social Services consultation in June 2025, the ADA submission called for nationally consistent, inclusive standards which aligned with Assistance Dogs International (ADI) benchmarks and specifically included the following recommendations:

That a national framework for consistent accreditation for trainers and training organisations be adopted which will support the reduction of public access refusals impacting equality and the wellbeing of all people (who qualify for an assistance dog) with disability.
ADI accredited training organisations be explicitly noted in the updated Disability Discrimination Act in order to avoid confusion and provide clarity on the training standards applied
All future training standards be national for consistency and apply to all organisations in the business of training assistance dogs and that the international standards as set by Assistance Dogs International (ADI) act as a blueprint to adapt to the entire sector.
That all Public Access Tests (PAT) must be consistent nationally with external auditing to ensure compliance and that Public Access Test assessment be based on international standards.
That these Public Access Test occur regularly. ADA purports an annual review in line with ADI requirements.
A national PAT should override any state-based assessment thereby reducing any administrative burden on national organisations. The experience of ADA is such that the inconsistency in state-based assessments lead to a greater number of access refusals. A national PAT is critical to protect not only the public but importantly the rights of people with disability in public.
Evidence of proof of disability should be in the form of a public access licence.

This public access licence is verified through a national identity card for both accredited assistance dogs and trainer handlers.
A national register of accredited assistance dogs be established for ease of recognition and verification, thereby promoting public confidence and reducing public access refusals.
Ease of reporting mechanisms to the Human Rights Commission to enable analysis of trends and support improved outcomes.
That the definition of an emotional support animal be included and explicitly clarify that a dog classified as an emotional support dog does not constituent an assistance dog and therefore cannot be positioned in public as an assistance dog.
Stronger repercussions, in the form of fines and penalties, for breach of the DDA in relation to access with an accredited Assistance Dog be applied and enforced nationally

The best possible outcome for the sector will exist where the highest possible standards can be attained. We understand there are a range of standards being applied in the sector and ADA recommends that the international standards as set by Assistance Dogs International (ADI) act as a blueprint for international best practice to adapt to the entire sector.

Data from ADA client experiences indicates that a lack of a national framework leads to a lack of public education and understanding, causing unnecessary anguish with public access refusals. On average ADA clients experience three (3) public access refusals per year, equating to over one thousand per year.

ADA notes that minimum training standards may include the following parameters:

Basic skills to allow safe access to public areas.
Advanced skills to alleviate disabilities.
Training standards to reflect current welfare best practice.
Standards for behaviour in public.

ADI as an international peak body has set extremely high standards in animal welfare and ADA suggest that the review and modernising of the DDA as it relates to Assistance Dogs be guided by the principles that are best practice in the Assistance Dog industry.

ADA thanks the Australian Government for the opportunity to contribute to this important review. We would welcome the chance to provide further information if required.