Legislation PDF Print E-mail

The main piece of legislation to which your group will refer is the Equality Act 2010, which supersedes the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995, amended in 2005. This section provides a basic overview of this legislation. The most useful reference point for more information on the Equality Act is the Equality and Human Rights Commission's (EHRC) website. The Government Equalities Office also has information on the Act, including a provisional timetable for implementation.

The Equality Act aims to aims to unify different pieces of equality legislation, to provide greater consistency and, in some areas, to strengthen provisions. The Act is structured around nine different ‘protected characteristics’, of which one is disability. It aims to prohibit discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

Different parts of the Equality Act give disabled people rights in the areas of:
  • goods, facilities and services (Part 3)
  • buying or renting land or property (Part 4)
  • employment (Part 5)
  • education (Part 6)
  • transport (Part 12)
Refer to each topic within this section for more information about the specific parts of the Equality Act that will be relevant to your work as an access group.