The Justice and Equity Centre (‘JEC’) and People with Disability Australia (‘PWDA’) welcome today’s White Paper announcing the Government’s intentions to develop new Disability Standards for air travel. This is a significant first step in addressing longstanding discrimination by airlines which has prevented people with disabilities from being able to travel by air equally with others in the community.
- The Australian Government has committed to develop an Aviation Disability Standard setting out requirements for airlines and airports to improve the accessibility of their services in a White Paper released today.
- The Government will consider processes to improve air travel for people with disability including removing policies limiting the number of passengers on a flight who require assistance.
- The Justice and Equity Centre and People with Disability Australia have worked alongside organisations in the disability sector to drive calls for independently enforced air travel disability standards, co-designed by people with disability.
The JEC and PWDA have long advocated for Aviation Disability Standards, and PWDA endorsed the JEC’s key Recommendation from their submission to the November 2023 Aviation Green Paper.
Currently, there are Disability Standards for public transport, requiring a minimum level of accessibility, but they do not adequately address the unique features of air travel. And they have not prevented discrimination against people with disability when flying.
