Australia, July 3 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on June 3:

1. The Applicant in this matter has a child with a disability. To prevent identification of the child, we refer to the Applicant in these reasons as GRD or 'the Applicant', and we refer to other members of GRD's family by their relationship to GRD, where necessary.

2. These proceedings involved complaints made by GRD that she was subjected to unlawful discrimination on the basis of her son's disability in the provision of goods and services, and that she suffered from victimisation in connection with her initial complaint.

3. The complaints were referred to the Tribunal by a delegate of the President of the Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW (ADNSW), pursuant to s 93C(a) of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW), having formed the view that the complaints could not be resolved by conciliation.

4. The Respondent, INA Operations Trust Pty Ltd trading as Eighth Gate Tomaga Wairo Park Trust (INA), operates a holiday park called Ingenia Holidays Wairo Beach, located near Lake Tabourie in New South Wales.

5. As part of that operation, INA enters into agreements with people who own holiday cabins, allowing long-term casual occupation of various sites in the holiday park. GRD and her spouse entered into such an arrangement, which INA subsequently terminated, relying on a without-cause term. The circumstances that led to the termination of the arrangement, and the actions taken by INA afterwards, are the relevant factual controversies in these proceedings.

6. From around August or September 2023, GRD's son has been accompanied by a dog on family visits to the park. In the material filed by GRD in July 2024, she referred to the dog as a "service animal in training."

The legislative framework

Discrimination

7. The Anti-Discrimination Act, ss 49B(1) and 49B(2) set out what constitutes discrimination on the grounds of disability. The section provides:

S 49B What constitutes discrimination on the ground of disability

(1) A person (the perpetrator) discriminates against another person (the aggrieved person) on the ground of disability if the perpetrator -

(a) on the ground of the aggrieved person's disability or the disability of a relative or associate of the aggrieved person, treats the aggrieved person less favourably than in the same circumstances, or in circumstances which are not materially different, the perpetrator treats or would treat a person who does not have that disability or who does not have such a relative or associate who has that disability, or

(b) requires the aggrieved person to comply with a requirement or condition with which a substantially higher proportion of persons who do not have that disability, or who do not have a relative or associate who has that disability, comply or are able to comply, being a requirement which is not reasonable having regard to the circumstances of the case and with which the aggrieved person does not or is not able to comply.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) (a), something is done on the ground of a person's disability if it is done on the ground of the person's disability, a characteristic that appertains generally to persons who have that disability or a characteristic that is generally imputed to persons who have that disability.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/1972e97ccadc2cb002c465ca)

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