XN000022-1995-04-11 — Page 8

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"The Bill which was approved today is the culmination of extensive consultation locally, of research of the relevant experience overseas, and of careful drafting work," he said.

"It will give people with a disability, their families and those who care for them a comprehensive system of redress in areas of life in which they may face discrimination, harassment or vilification.

"These include: employment; education; transport; access to buildings and services; and participation in partnerships, professional organisations, clubs, and sports."

Mr Wilson stressed that the Bill would not nevertheless require employers to hire a certain quota of people with a disability; nor would it require all existing buildings, ferries, and buses to provide improved access and certain levels of service.

He said: "It will not place unreasonable demands on employers, service providers or property owners. But it will make it unlawful for anybody to treat a person with a disability less favourably than others on account of their disability.

"We have sought to strike a balance," he added.

Buildings and services will need progressively to be adapted to facilitate their use by people with a disability over time, but with immediate effect it will become unlawful, for example, to harass or otherwise unfairly treat people with a disability on account of their disability.

The Bill provides for two main defences against complaints of discrimination.

The first is "unjustifiable hardship" which means a developer, landlord or transport service operator could defeat a claim of discrimination by proving that it would cause them "unjustifiable hardship" to make special arrangements to meet the needs of a person with a disability.

"For example, a bus company could argue that it would cause unjustifiable hardship to change its bus fleet overnight to accommodate wheelchair bound passengers," said Mr Wilson.

The second defence is "genuine occupational qualification" which means where a person with a disability could not meet the requirements of a particular position, because of their disability, the employer would not be breaking the law in not hiring him or her.