› Flat Chat Strata Forum › Pets: Furry friends … or fiends? › Disability rort fears over hearing dog decision › Current Page
The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) was an act passed by the Parliament of Australia in 1992 to promote the rights of people with disabilities in certain areas such as housing, education and provision of goods and services. Guide dogs, hearing dogs, companion animals and other other assistance animals should be welcome in all Body Corporates and Strata Schemes. Tenants living in Body Corporate properties are entitled to maintain therapeutic animals as sanctioned under Section 9 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 covering guide dogs, hearing assistance dogs, and other trained animals, providing documentation indicating the need for such assistance and the training/qualification of the individual assistance animal can be provided. This has been tested in Queensland. I personally have a companion animal for my depression and I live in NSW. I am awaiting testing of this Act in NSW based on my doctor’s prescription that the animal is contributing to my health and well-being.
@JimmyT said:
A court decision allowing a “hearing assistance” dog to stay in a pet-free apartment building could lead to the strata equivalent of the disabled parking permit rort, says a leading strata lawyer.
Beverley Hoskinson-Green, a partner at lawyers Makinson d’Apice, said the case was a “road map for anyone wishing to get around legitimate by-laws banning pets from strata schemes.”