Discrimination & Equal Rights
No Special Exceptions
Disability discrimination — refused reasonable adjustment at work
Premium
intermediate
8 minutes
The Situation
What They Said
“We can't make special exceptions for everyone. If you can't do the job as-is, that's a problem.”
For many Australians living with disability, the most significant barrier to employment is not their impairment — it is the refusal of employers to make adjustments that would allow them to perform their role fully. These adjustments are often modest: flexible start times, modified equipment, a parking space closer to the building, written rather than verbal instructions. Yet they are routinely refused under the guise of 'fairness', as though treating a person with a disability exactly the same as everyone else is a neutral act.
The framing of a reasonable adjustment as a 'special exception' is one of the most common ways this discrimination is normalised. It implies that the person requesting the adjustment is asking for preferential treatment — a claim that has no legal or moral foundation. Australian disability discrimination law is explicit: failing to make a reasonable adjustment is itself an act of unlawful discrimination. Equality sometimes requires different treatment, not identical treatment.
This scenario is especially important in Australia given the significant underemployment of people with disability. The Australian Bureau of Statistics consistently documents that people with disability face lower employment rates, lower incomes, and greater barriers to advancement. The law exists precisely to correct these structural disadvantages, and workers need to know how to invoke it.
The Fallacy
False Equality Fallacy — Treating Different Circumstances Identically
The claim that 'we can't make exceptions for everyone' rests on a flawed premise: that applying the same rules to all employees is inherently fair. This misunderstands what fairness requires. When a standard workplace policy disadvantages employees with disability in a way that does not disadvantage non-disabled employees, and the employer fails to adjust that policy, the employer is not being neutral — they are perpetuating a structural inequality.
Australian disability discrimination law distinguishes between direct discrimination (treating someone less favourably because of their disability) and indirect discrimination (applying a condition that, while formally neutral, has a disproportionate and unjustifiable effect on people with disability). A blanket refusal to accommodate any deviation from standard operating conditions is exactly the kind of condition that creates indirect discrimination.
The further claim — 'if you can't do the job as-is, that's a problem' — adds a coercive element. It implies that the employee's continued employment is conditional on their ability to work without any accommodation. This is precisely the pressure the law is designed to remove. The question is not whether the employee can perform identically to others; it is whether, with reasonable adjustment, they can perform the inherent requirements of the role.
What the Law Says
Your Legal Foundation
Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)
Section 5 — Direct disability discrimination
“For the purposes of this Act, a person (the discriminator) discriminates against another person (the aggrieved person) on the ground of a disability of the aggrieved person if, because of the disability, the discriminator treats or proposes to treat the aggrieved person less favourably than the discriminator treats or would treat a person without the disability in circumstances that are not materially different.”
Refusing to adjust a workplace condition specifically because of an employee's disability — or implying their employment is at risk because of it — is direct disability discrimination under Section 5. The comparison is to a non-disabled employee in otherwise similar circumstances, who would not be required to perform under the same restrictive conditions.
Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)
Section 6 — Indirect disability discrimination
“For the purposes of this Act, a person (the discriminator) discriminates against another person (the aggrieved person) on the ground of a disability of the aggrieved person if the discriminator requires or proposes to require the aggrieved person to comply with a requirement or condition; and because of the disability, the aggrieved person does not or would not comply with the requirement or condition; and the requirement or condition has the effect of disadvantaging persons with the disability; and the discriminator has not made, or is not willing to make, reasonable adjustments.”
A blanket policy of uniform working hours, tools, or procedures that an employee with disability cannot comply with, combined with a refusal to adjust, is a classic case of indirect discrimination under Section 6. The employer bears the responsibility to demonstrate that making the adjustment would impose unjustifiable hardship — not the employee to prove they deserve an exception.
Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)
Section 21B — Reasonable adjustment
“For the purposes of this Act, an adjustment is a reasonable adjustment unless making the adjustment would impose an unjustifiable hardship on the person who would be required to make the adjustment.”
Section 21B shifts the burden to the employer. A requested adjustment is presumed reasonable unless the employer can demonstrate that making it would cause unjustifiable hardship — a high threshold that requires evidence of actual financial, operational, or safety impact. A general preference for uniformity is not unjustifiable hardship.
What Scripture Says
God's Word on This
Romans 15:1 (NIV)
“We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.”
Paul's instruction to the strong is not an act of condescension — it is a call to structural accommodation. Those with the power to remove a barrier have an obligation to use that power. An employer with the resources to make a minor adjustment carries a responsibility to the employee who cannot operate without it. This verse describes exactly what reasonable adjustment law requires in moral terms.
Leviticus 19:14 (NIV)
“Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord.”
This ancient law condemns the act of placing an obstacle before someone already navigating the world differently. Refusing a reasonable workplace adjustment is a modern form of putting a stumbling block in someone's path — knowing they cannot clear it as-is and choosing to leave it there. The law of God demanded this kind of active care long before any parliament did.
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What They'll Say Next
Common Counter-Arguments
After you respond, they may push back with these arguments. Members get the full rebuttal for each.
They might say: “You should have disclosed your disability when you were hired. You knew the job requirements.”
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They might say: “Other people with disabilities manage fine without any adjustments. You're the only one asking.”
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They might say: “We'll put you on a performance improvement plan if you can't meet the standard requirements.”
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