http://www.afdo.org.au/node/391
Law Clipping the Wings of People with Disability The Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO) has called for an overhaul of disability discrimination laws in light of Friday’s Federal Court ruling in King vs. Jetstar. The ruling found that while Jetstar had discriminated against Ms Sheila King, a wheelchair user, by not allowing her on a flight which already had two other wheelchair users, it had done so for reasons of unjustifiable hardship. Jetstar argued that a higher cap on the number of wheelchair users per flight would lead to longer turnaround times and ultimately, fewer flights.
ABC radio story
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2012/s3408070.htm
Seventy-eight-year-old Sheila King has waged a two year legal battle to prove that Jetstar had discriminated against her. In August 2008 the low cost airline refused to allow her to travel on a flight from Adelaide to Brisbane because they were already carrying two passengers who needed wheelchairs. Australia's disability discrimination commissioner Graeme Innes is adamant the two wheelchair policy is wrong.
ABC's 7:30 Report
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2012/s3411749.htm
It was 20 years ago that the Federal Disability Discrimination Act came into force in Australia. It's aim was clear - to eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities. But on its anniversary the Act has come under fresh scrutiny, because of a legal case involving a 78-year-old disabled woman, and budget carrier JetStar's domestic policy, not allowing more than two people needing wheelchairs on the same plane.
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