NDIA Accountability Project

Recommendations for protecting carers under the Disability Discrimination Act

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Submission to the Australian Government Review of the Disability

Discrimination Act 1992

November 2025

Contents

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Executive summary Carers Victoria welcomes this opportunity to provide a response to the Australian Government’s review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA).

The primary purpose of the DDA is to protect people with disability from discrimination and Carers Victoria strongly supports this aim. We do however think it is important to recognise that people with disability frequently are in care relationships, and that the people who support them (who for the purposes of this submission we term carers), often experience discrimination as a result of their caring role1.

We are thus calling for the review to consider expanding its scope to include carers as defined in legislation, to reduce the discrimination that arises from the role they play in directly supporting people living with disability.

Drawing on what Victorian carers have told us about their experiences of discrimination and exclusion, we have identified a range of areas where we believe protections under the DDA could be enhanced. In summary, we recommend that the DDA review:

  • provide more consistent recognition of carers across legal frameworks by explicitly defining who carers are, using the definition in the Carer Recognition Act 2010

  • broaden and clarify definitions of discrimination (both indirect and associative discrimination) to help people with disability and their carers to establish when they have been treated unfairly

  • ensure definitions of discrimination are broad enough to adequately protect those who face intersectional discrimination

  • introduce a positive duty on employers, service providers, and other duty holders to shift the burden from people with disability and their carers having to pursue individual complaints, to organisations being required to actively prevent discrimination

  • empower the Australian Human Rights Commission with stronger tools, such as own motion investigation powers and enforceable undertakings- to ensure compliance with the Act.

While Carers Victoria is pleased to have the opportunity to share our insights in this area, we would encourage the review to directly seek feedback from people in those caring roles to better understand the nature of the discrimination that they have experienced.

Carers Victoria would be happy to work with the review to convene such a discussion and/or discuss any of the recommendations made in this submission further.

Key contact for further information: Senior Manager, Policy and Insights at

1 In referring to carers, we are referring to those captured within the definition contained within the Carer Recognition Act 2010 and note this excludes people who are employed in care-related roles.

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The case for change

For many people living with disability, the support and assistance they receive from people in their care relationships is a vital adjunct to any funded supports they may receive.

The most recent available data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics suggests that over 2.4 m Australians with disability are being supported by unpaid carers including family, friends and neighbours’.

Despite this role that carers play, a recent federal inquiry found that their contribution remains undervalued, and their rights insufficiently protected under current legislation®.

A range of Victorian carers who are supporting people with disabilities have spoken to Carers Victoria about the exclusion and discrimination they face as a result of their caring role.

The review of the DDA offers an opportunity to contribute towards remedying this which, in addition to benefiting carers by ensuring their role and its impacts are

appropriately recognised and valued, also has flow on benefits to the people with disabilities they care for.

Carers experience discrimination…

Multiple research reports and inquiries show that carers continue to face significant disadvantages, often as a direct consequence of their caring role and carers experience discrimination across many areas of public life.

Between 2018-2021, the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission

received 236 complaints from carers under Victoria’s Equal Opportunity Act 2010 and the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001.

These complaints related to discrimination issues across accommodation, education, employment, and sport as well as goods and services’.

…and many of them experience other forms of disadvantage as a result of their caring role.

Although unpaid carers make a major contribution to the Australian community and its economy, carers pay a price for doing so - at their workplaces, in the community, and in their own homes, carers experience social exclusion, stigma and economic losses. Just for caring.

Workplace disadvantage - Unpaid carers face substantially worse employment outcomes with Australian data sources showing employment disadvantage. Carers, particularly primary and female carers, have lower labour force participation, are less likely to work full-time and report difficulty balancing employment with their caring role°.

? Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: Summary of Findings, 2022 | Australian Bureau of

Statistics, accessed 13/11/2025. 3 House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs Inquiry, 2024, Recognising, Valuing and Supporting Unpaid Carers, Final Report.

4 2020-21 VEOHRC Annual Report Resource Annual Report-2020-21.odf

° Carers NSW, 2024: 2024 National Carer Survey

NDIS, 2022, Employment outcomes- participants, their families and carers as at December 2022

Many report self-censoring or feeling excluded because they are concerned that employers will perceive their caring responsibilities as a liability.

Quantitative data on carers’ experience of direct discrimination in Australia is scarce, though there are indications that carers experience higher levels of workplace discrimination than the general population. For example, nearly half of the 236 carer’s complaints received by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner (VEOHRC) between 2018-21 related to employment. A 2021 Diversity Council Australia survey reported 33% of carers experienced discrimination at work compared with 21% of non-carers6 and the Diversity Council’s Inclusion@Work index continues to recognise carers as a group facing structural barriers and exclusion7.

Financial insecurity - Carers are over-represented in low-income households and are more likely to rely on income support. Reduced superannuation contributions and interrupted work histories create long-term financial hardship, particularly for women, who make up the majority of unpaid carers.

Social exclusion and stigma - Carers frequently encounter stigma in education, health and community settings, where their role is misunderstood or undervalued. The absence of formal recognition in anti-discrimination law reinforces the invisibility of carers in public life.

Psychological strain - Carers experience higher rates of stress, burnout, and poor mental health outcomes compared to the general population.

Discrimination and exclusion exacerbate these challenges by compounding the pressures of caring.

How the DDA review can help In Victoria, the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (EOA), provides broader protection against discrimination than the current federal DDA, and the VEOHRC plays an active role in promoting compliance.

Importantly, the EOA places a positive duty on organisations to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate discrimination, sexual harassment, and victimisation. This shifts the burden from individuals making complaints to organisations being accountable for prevention. The EOA also explicitly recognises carers and parental status as a protected attribute in employment settings. The VEOHRC has powers to monitor compliance, provide education and investigate systemic issues.

Together these provisions give carers clearer rights and stronger remedies. Adopting similar reforms at the federal level would make the DDA a more effective tool in protecting both people with disability and their carers from discrimination and measuring their inclusion in workplaces and services. Carers Victoria has identified four specific areas for such reforms: strengthening associated discrimination as it relates to carers; introducing a positive duty in relation to carers, modernise definitions, and enhance enforcement.

6 Diversity Council Australia, 2021, Mapping the State of Flex in the Australian Workforce pp.8,9 7 Diversity Council Australia, 2023-24, Inclusion@Work Index 2023-2024

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Strengthen associative discrimination Carers are protected only indirectly under the DDA via associative discrimination. This is hard to prove, and carers are not explicitly defined nor recognised as rights holders under the Act.

The DDA should explicitly define who carers are, using the definition in the Commonwealth Carer Recognition Act 2010 to help clarify that protection extends to carers experiencing discrimination because of their association with a person with disability. This would remove ambiguity and give carers a clearer avenue for redress.

Introduce a positive duty The proposed introduction of a positive duty on employers, service providers, and other duty holders would shift the burden from people with disability and their carers having to pursue individual complaints, to organisations being required to actively prevent discrimination. This would directly benefit people with disability and carers by embedding proactive responsibility across workplaces and services.

Modernise definitions of discrimination Definitions of direct and indirect discrimination, and discrimination in relation to associates in the DDA are narrow and hard to understand. It is difficult for carers to prove that discrimination occurred because of their association with a person with disability. Broadening and clarifying definitions of discrimination (both indirect and associative discrimination) would help carers to establish when they have been treated unfairly.

It is also important that definitions of discrimination are broad enough to adequately protect those who face intersectional discrimination, including women, First Nations people, culturally diverse, young and LGBTIQA+ people whose experiences of discrimination are compounded by multiple factors.

Enhance enforcement mechanisms The DDA should empower the Australian Human Rights Commission with stronger tools, such as own motion investigation powers and enforceable undertakings- to ensure compliance. This would reduce the heavy reliance on individuals with disability and their carers to lodge and sustain complaints, which is often unrealistic given their limited time and resources.

Alignment with other reforms The DDA review should be considered in context with potential changes to the Australian Carers Recognition Act (CRA). Together there is potential for carers to be both explicitly recognised in law (CRA) and indirectly supported through a stronger DDA framework.

If harmonised, carers could see more consistent recognition across legal and policy frameworks.

Concluding remarks The DDA review provides an opportunity to secure a better future for people with disability and for carers.

Carers are vital to the lives of many people with disabilities, and it is important that their rights are understood by the community and protected.

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We thank the Australian Government for the opportunity to provide feedback through this consultation and trust that our response and recommendations will be thoughtfully considered in the review.

Key data about unpaid carers e The workforce participation rate of primary carers is 65%® compared to 82% of the general Australian population.

e 38% of respondents either reduced their workforce participation or stopped work entirely because of their care role.°

e Nearly two thirds (63%) of Australian carers reported experiencing financial stress in 2025“.

e The number of carers reporting they are going without meals, are unable to heat or cool their home or pay utility bills on time has virtually doubled since 2020“.

e The average wellbeing score of carers (55.74) is substantially lower than the Australian population who are not in care roles (74.4)“.

e 1 in3 carers reported high levels of psychological distress compared to 16% in the general Australian population’.

e Over 43% of respondents reported being highly isolated compared to just 12% of the Australian population who are not in care roles”.

e Two in five (39%) Australian carers have a disability, compared to 21% of Australians”.

e Despite their huge contribution to society, and legislative recognition at both state and federal level since 2012, just 12% of carers felt that their caring role was recognised or valued by government in 2024 (a decline from 16% in 2022)’°.

8 Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: Summary of Findings, 2022 | Australian Bureau of

Statistics, accessed 22 October 2025

? Carers NSW, (2025) 2024 National Carer Survey. Summary Report. Carers NSW North Sydney

’° Ibid

“” Ibid

’2 Ibid

13 Mylek, M. and Schirmer, J. 2024. Caring for others and yourself: The 2025 Carer Wellbeing

Survey

“4 Ibid

’S Australian Bureau of Statistics, Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers 2021, Victorian Tables.

16 Carers NSW, (2025) 2024 National Carer Survey. Summary Report. Carers NSW North Sydney

About Carers Victoria

Carers Victoria is a for-purpose organisation working to make sure that the almost 1 million unpaid carers across the state are understood, recognised and supported as while it is an important role, it can also be a challenging one.

To progress our vision of a future in which all unpaid carers are recognised, valued and supported, we:

  • provide them with free advice and information to help them in their role
  • connect them to respite activities that allow them to take a break and recharge
  • deliver events and education for carers and carer-interested organisations
  • collect, analyse and release information about carers so their role and their needs are better understood.

These contribute to our purpose of advancing understanding of Victoria’s unpaid carers and improving their access to assistance – whoever they are, wherever they live, and whomever may be in their care relationship/s. Every Victorian will know, need and/or be an unpaid carer at some point in their lives so the potential reach of our work is significant.

Further information about Carers Victoria can be accessed via our website, Home page Carers Victoria.

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