Legislation

Copies of all Commonwealth legislation can be found at ComLaw website.

Aged Care Act

The Aged Care Act 1997 allows access to aged care by those who need it, regardless of race, culture, language, gender, economic circumstance or geographic location. It helps care recipients to enjoy the same rights as all other people in Australia by protecting their personal, civil, legal and consumer rights. It promotes high quality care that meets the needs of individuals and protects their health and wellbeing by encouraging diverse, flexible and responsible services.

These services facilitate the independence of, and choice available to, care recipients and their carers. Under the Act, care may be provided as residential care, community care or flexible care. Funding under the Act takes account of the quality and level of care provided. Providers of this care are accountable for the care and services they provide to care recipients.

The Act also ensures that care is affordable for the people who need it and establishes rules for the payment of fees and accommodation charges by those who can afford to make a contribution towards their care.

Aged Care (Bond Security) Act

The Aged Care (Bond Security) Act 2006 guarantees the refund of accommodation bond balances when an approved provider becomes insolvent or bankrupt. The Guarantee Scheme ensures that the Commonwealth will refund the accommodation bond balance (after deducting any applicable retention amounts and other agreed fees) owed to residents (with interest) in the event that an approved provider becomes bankrupt or insolvent and is unable to repay accommodation bonds.

The Commonwealth then assumes the residents' rights as a creditor to pursue the defaulting approved provider to recover the accommodation bond money paid out. Refunds of entry contributions paid by residents entering care before October 1997 are also guaranteed under this Act.

Age Discrimination Act

Age discrimination can be a significant problem for older people. The Australian Parliament, recognising the need for Australians of all ages to be able to fully participate in society, has passed age discrimination legislation.

The Age Discrimination Act 2004 makes direct and indirect age discrimination unlawful in many areas of public life, including employment and the provision of goods and services.

Australian Human Rights Commission Act

The Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 empowers the Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) to deal with complaints about discrimination, harassment and bullying based on a person's sex, disability (including temporary and permanent disabilities), race (including national or ethnic origin) or age (covering young people and older people).

The Commission may also investigate complaints of discrimination, harassment and bullying in employment based on a person's sexual preference, criminal record, trade union activity, political opinion, religion or social origin.
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Disability Discrimination Act

The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 protects individuals from direct and indirect discrimination on the basis of disability in many areas of public life, such as employment, education and access to premises, the provision of goods, services, transport, accommodation, sport and the administration of Commonwealth laws and services. The definition of 'disability' in the Act is very wide and includes physical, intellectual, psychiatric, sensory and neurological disabilities. It also covers learning difficulties, physical disfigurement and the presence in the body of disease-carrying organisms. The Act also makes harassment on the grounds of disability unlawful.

Unlawful discrimination under the Act includes discrimination because a person is an associate (including a partner, family member, friend or carer) of a person with a disability.

The Act also applies directly to discrimination because a person is accompanied by a guide dog, hearing dog or other animal trained to alleviate the effects of a person's disability.

Privacy Act

The Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 provides protection for personal information about you that is handled by Australian, ACT and Norfolk Island government agencies; personal information about you held by all large private sector organisations; all private sector health service providers and some small businesses; credit worthiness information held by credit reporting agencies and credit providers and personal tax file numbers used by individuals and organisations.

Racial Discrimination Act

The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 makes discrimination on the basis of race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin unlawful. It covers discrimination in public life, including areas such as employment, renting or buying a property, the provision of goods and services, accessing public places and advertising.

Sex Discrimination Act

The Sex Discrimination Act 1984makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person on the basis of their sex, marital status or pregnancy, and in relation to employment and family responsibilities. This Act makes it unlawful to discriminate in many areas of public life, including employment, education, the provision of goods and services, accommodation, sport and administration of Commonwealth laws and programs. It also makes sexual harassment unlawful.
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