Australian legislation and standards

Commonwealth legislation

The Australian Human Rights Commission references legislation such as the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 which requires providing equitable access to people with disability. It is unlawful Under the Act, to discriminate against a person with disability by excluding access to information and services, which includes those delivered online.

Australian Department and Agency Policies

Government standards

The Australian Government has endorsed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 for all government websites. WCAG is also included in:

WCAG is part of a series of accessibility guidelines, including the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) and the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG). Essential Components of Web Accessibility explains the relationship between the different guidelines.

Guides to help meet the standards

The Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) provides advice on how to meet compliance to Australian standards is detailed in the Digital Experience Toolkit that references compliance with the latest WCAG.

The DTA also recently promoted the Australia Government Digital Policy. The policy’s goals are further supported by the 4 standards.

Accessibility is also included in the Commonwealth Government Style Manual which is the standard for Australian Government writing and editing.

Department of Social Services developed Engaging People with Disability Good Practice Guidelines, published on the Disability Gateway and assessed against the Digital Service Standard by OZeWAI members.

States and territories have built on this work to develop their own toolkits and guidance:

Related international standards