What is a Disability?

The Australian Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) defines disability as: 

• Total or partial loss of the person’s bodily or mental functions; or
• Total or partial loss of a part of the body; or
• The presence in the body of organisms causing disease or illness; or
• The malfunction, malformation or disfigurement of a part of a person’s body; or
• A disorder or malfunction that results in the person learning differently from a person without the disorder or malfunction; or
• A disorder, illness or disease that affects a person’s thought processes, perception of reality, emotions or judgement or that results in disturbed behaviour. 

It includes a disability that:

• Presently exists; or
• Previously existed but no longer exists; or
• May exist in the future; or
• Is imputed to a person.

It is important to note the broadness of this definition as people sometimes limit their understanding of disability to someone who has an obvious physical disability or to someone who has a permanent disability or illness.

For Bond University, a disability includes any impairment, injury, illness or health condition, which may affect a student's capacity to undertake a program of study. Some, such as physical or sensory disabilities, may be obvious, whilst others may not be apparent unless disclosed by the student, for example, diabetes, epilepsy, dyslexia or mental health difficulties.

A disability may be permanent, short-term or episodic in nature.

Under the formal definition of disability in the Disability Discrimination Act, English language proficiency is not considered to be a disability.