Most people don't realise that I am deaf unless I tell them. My deafness is invisible. I don't wear hearing aids and my voice (though distinct enough to prompt people to ask 'where are you from?') isn't a typical deaf voice. Every day I make small calculations, assessing every interaction to determine if I need to reveal that I have a disability. If I make a miscalculation, the consequences can be rapid and irreversible. Often, I find it easier to self-manage miscommunications than to feel the slap of stigma.
Concealing a disability is not an unusual situation. Approximately 1.5 billion people have a disability. Yet, only 12 per cent choose to disclose it. Hundreds of millions of people around the world are concealing themselves out of fear of social stigma and economic disadvantage.
In Australia, despite the protections created by the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, little has changed in the intervening decades. Disability discrimination still accounts for the highest volume of complaints the Australian Human Rights Commission receives each year.
In Australia, there are no legal obligations to disclose that you have a disability. When I graduated university, I didn't tell any prospective employers that I have an invisible disability. If I had, I might be still looking for a job. A 2015 survey by Graduate Careers Australia found that 'Graduates with disability take 56.2 per cent longer to gain fulltime employment than other graduates'.
Even once a disabled person has secured employment, things don't necessarily improve. The Australian Network on Disability note that 'People with disability aged 15 — 24 years are 10 times more likely to experience discrimination than those aged 65 years and over. The source of discrimination is an employer in almost half of those instances'.
Why are there so many cases of discrimination? The Disability Discrimination Act (Cth) 1992 hinges on the word 'fairness'. Though the legislation fails to provide practical guidance on what 'fair and reasonable' behaviour is, which essentially leaves decision making in the hands of employers. This is fraught territory as there can enormous variation in how individuals perceive disability. The Law Institute of Victoria have been critical of this stating that 'it seems crucial that some form of guidelines or standards covering all the areas in which discrimination is prohibited under the act be developed'.
Such guidelines would make the act easier to navigate and compare. The Law Institute of Victoria acknowledge that this would be difficult