Disability Discrimination Act 1995
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| Long title | An Act to make it unlawful to discriminate against disabled persons in connection with employment, the provision of goods, facilities and services or the disposal or management of premises; to make provision about the employment of disabled persons; and to establish a National Disability Council |
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| Citation | 1995 c 50 |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales; Scotland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 1995 |
| Repealed | 1 October 2010 (England and Wales; Scotland). |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | Equality Act 2010 |
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Status: Unknown
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| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (c 50) (informally, and hereafter, the DDA) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which has now been repealed and replaced by the Equality Act 2010, except in Northern Ireland where the Act still applies. Formerly, it made it unlawful to discriminate against people in respect of their disabilities in relation to employment, the provision of goods and services, education and transport.
The DDA is a civil rights law. Other countries use constitutional, social rights or criminal law to make similar provisions. The Equality and Human Rights Commission combats discrimination. Equivalent legislation exists in Northern Ireland, which is enforced by the Northern Ireland Equality Commission.
It is still permissible for employers to have reasonable medical criteria for employment, and to expect adequate performance from all employees once any reasonable adjustments have been made.
The Act was the culmination of a public campaign, and at least 100,000 people in demonstrations, to force the government to end state and business discrimination against disabled people. While the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 guaranteed minimum standards for equality on grounds of race and gender, there had been very little concerning disabled people.
In addition to imposing obligations on employers, the Act placed duties on service providers and required "reasonable adjustments" to be made when providing access to goods, facilities, services and premises.
The duties on service providers have been introduced in three stages:
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