Submission to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability – Experiences of people with disability accessing air travel and pursuing complaints against airlines and airports

PIAC made a submission to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability to bring attention to the experiences of people with disability when accessing air travel and pursuing complaints against airlines and airports.

This submission is informed by PIAC’s experience representing clients in disability discrimination complaints against airlines and airports, and consulting with disability advocates and representative organisations.

Our experience highlights and establishes:

• systemic abuse and neglect that prevents people with disability from equally accessing air travel and airports; and
• the limitations of the legal framework in pursuing disability discrimination complaints and achieving systemic change.

We recommend the Royal Commission find the actions and omissions of the Australian Government, airlines, and airports, in failing to protect the rights of people with disability, amounts to abuse and neglect. The Royal Commission should make recommendations to improve the domestic legal framework to prevent this abuse and neglect. Specifically, the Government should develop legislation or enforceable standards for air travel through co-design with people with disability.