Human Rights Act 1993

Unlawful discrimination - Discrimination in provision of goods and services

52: Exception in relation to disability

You could also call this:

"When Disability Needs Special Treatment, You Can Say No or Set Rules"

You do not break the law under section 44 if you refuse to provide facilities or services to someone with a disability. This is because their disability needs special treatment that you cannot reasonably provide. You also do not break the law if you provide facilities or services to someone with a disability, but with stricter terms. You can do this if the person's disability requires special treatment and you cannot provide it without stricter terms. The law says you do not have to provide facilities or services in a special way if it is not reasonable to expect you to do so. This means you can refuse to provide facilities or services or provide them with stricter terms if you cannot reasonably provide them in a special way. If you want to know more about this, you can look at section 44 to understand what it says about providing facilities or services.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM304630.

This page was last updated on 13 December 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Rights and equality > Anti-discriminationHealth and wellbeing > Public health

51: Exception in relation to reduced charges, or

"It's okay to get discounts because of your age, disability, or job"

53: Land, housing, and other accommodation, or

"Fair treatment when buying or renting a home"

Part 2Unlawful discrimination
Discrimination in provision of goods and services

52Exception in relation to disability

It shall not be a breach of section 44 for a person who supplies facilities or services—
to refuse to provide those facilities or services to any person if—
1. that person's disability requires those facilities or services to be provided in a special manner; and
2. the person who supplies the facilities or services cannot reasonably be expected to provide them in that special manner; or
to provide those facilities or services to any person on terms that are more onerous than those on which they are made available to other persons, if—
1. that person's disability requires those facilities or services to be provided in a special manner; and
2. the person who supplies the facilities or services cannot reasonably be expected to provide them without requiring more onerous terms.