Advertisement

No wheelchair access at National Disability Summit

The laws and rules guiding the National Disability Insurance Scheme will go under the microscope, in an effort to reduce wait times for participants.

The laws and rules guiding the National Disability Insurance Scheme will go under the microscope, in an effort to reduce wait times for participants.

Organisers of a national disability conference in Melbourne have come under fire after a speaker had to be carried onto the stage because it was not wheelchair accessible.

Attendees of the sixth annual National Disability Summit, organised by a private provider, said participants with disabilities who paid $2,000 to attend were made to sit together at one table at the back of the room.

Only 12 concession spots had been organised for participants with disabilities at the summit, held last week.

Germanwings pilot ‘locked out of cabin’: report
Government reverses Indigenous legal aid cuts
Chemical risks shut CFA Fiskville site 

There was no ramp for mobility-impaired speakers to reach the stage and participants had to be lifted up four stairs so they could get to the lectern.

One participant, Jax Jacki Brown, said on Facebook that watching a speaker getting carried up on stage showed that “we have a long way to go”.

National Disability Summit, The disability toilets were full of chairs and used for storage.

The disability toilets were full of chairs and used for storage. Photo: ABC

According to a blog post by Ms Brown, the “accessible toilet was filled with chairs and used as a storage space in the week leading up to the conference”.

“The food provided was up on really tall tables … wheelchair users could not access it,” she added.

Disability advocate Jarrod Marrinon said organisers took his registration fee and then told him there was no spot for him but eventually allowed him to participate.

“I was pretty taken aback when I realised just how much these people don’t really think about what they’re doing,” he said.

“I refused to sit [at] the table. The problem was the table was up the back, in the corner.”

In a tweet, disability discrimination commissioner Susan Ryan said conference organisers have been approached regarding accessibility issues at the event.

The organisers of the event, Informa, have been contacted for comment.

The summit discussed the progress of the NDIS trial sites.

Advertisement
Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter.
Copyright © 2024 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.