Philomena
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‘Staff have to stop what they are doing, go down or up the stairs, taking the student away from their mobility assistance equipment, and carry them down or up the stairs, then carry their assistance down or up for them!’
Philomena is an academic and a lecturer at a prestigious Australian university. She told the Royal Commission the university is failing to provide access and inclusion for people with disability, despite pledging a commitment to do so.
At the building where she works, Philomena has seen faculty members carry students up a flight of stairs so they can access practical lab classes. ‘These staff members lift the students out of their chairs and carry them, then their wheelchairs, upstairs, reversing the process at the end of the class.’
Philomena says students with mobility disability are required to attend the classes to fulfil compulsory attendance obligations.
In a bid to ‘solve the problem’, Philomena went to both the head of her faculty and the university’s Disability Support Unit seeking dispensation for students needing mobility assistance to use the staff-only lift. Despite her appeals, she was told no authority would be given for students to use it.
Philomena is also concerned that all three entry points to the building have stairs that are ‘extremely difficult to access when you have a mobility issue’. She would like to see an access ramp installed.
She says the university’s failure to make reasonable adjustments for students with mobility impairments is in breach of its own Disability Inclusion Action Plan.
And it takes a toll on the staff. ‘This is a lot of strain, and wear and tear on the staff members involved; leading to both personal and legal risks to the staff and students; let alone the personal humiliation that the students may incur.’
Philomena says the university must make structural changes on the campus to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act. And it must put its Disability Inclusion Action Plan into action ‘to uphold its’ access and inclusion principles and responsibilities as a leading education provider’.
Philomena hopes that by sharing her observations and experiences she can help ‘make Australia a more inclusive, fair and ordinary country to live in’.
Disclaimer: This is the story of a person who shared their personal experience with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability through a submission or private session. The names in this story are pseudonyms. The person who shared this experience was not a witness and their account is not evidence. They did not take an oath or affirmation before providing the story. Nothing in this story constitutes a finding of the Royal Commission. Any views expressed are those of the person who shared their experience, not of the Royal Commission.