Wheelchair Assess to Holiday Lets
Dear editor,
Dylan Alcott has had a brilliant week. He heralded his recent honors with these words “my purpose 10 years ago, yesterday, today and as Australian of the Year, it’s never changed … to change perceptions so people with disability live the lives that they deserve to live”.
For people in wheelchairs to gain access to Airbnb accommodation does not require a change to our laws. May of last year marked 10 years since changes to the Building Act were made. These changes mandate that certain service providers not providing disability access is now unlawful.
And yet our Council does not enforce this law. Airbnb operators (the ones who don’t just provide an air mattress but an entire house or unit and do it as a full time business – and therefore are legally obliged by the Building Act) are not providing disability access. This is a shameful neglect of duty on the part of the Council, and on the part of those accommodation providers. Hotels, who are in direct competition with Airbnb, are obliged to provide disability access. Why is there a double standard being applied here?
I agree with Dylan, it’s perceptions that need to change.
J.Carney,
Marcoola.
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COVID ANNIVERSAY
Dear editor,
Will there be a ‘Ruby Princess’ re-enactment to commemorate the first landing of the Covid virus in Australia? Which sloganista will announce it and dress-up as the virus for the photo-ops? Just asking.
Margaret Wilkie,
Peregian Beach.
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