Invisible disability organisation founder says she felt ‘violated’ going through Canberra Airport security
The founder of Invisible Disabilities Australia says she was “treated appallingly” while going through security at the Canberra Airport.
Organisation founder Lynn Russell told ABC Radio Canberra security guards wheeled her in a wheelchair into a tiny room after going through the scanner, which was itself a difficult process.
She said security asked her what her medical device was, to which she replied that it was a medical device, but did not say what kind it was.
Invisible Disabilities Australia founder Lynn Russell says she felt violated during the incident. (Supplied: Lynn Russell)
Ms Russell said they would not let her go through the scanner until she disclosed her condition.
“They wouldn’t screen me until I really insisted and actually told them what my condition was, and the guy says ‘oh, why didn’t you say so?'” she said.
“What if it was a condition he didn’t know about, or understand, or see as important?”
After going through screening Ms Russell said security decided to give her a physical examination also.
“I was wheeled in a wheelchair into what can only be described as a cupboard,” she said.
“I was left facing the wall with my feet touching the wall. I had to struggle to turn the wheelchair around to face the people in the room.
Ms Russell said security proceeded to pat her down and “feel [her] all over the place”, something that made her particularly uncomfortable given her fibromyalgia and history of cancer.
“These people should have been medically trained,” she said.
“You can’t have anyone just patting someone down and feeling their entire body like that. I was being violated.”
Advocacy for Inclusion policy head Craig Wallace says he won’t travel on planes anymore. (
ABC News: Jade Toomey
)
Craig Wallace, head of policy at Advocacy for Inclusion, said everything about going to the airport as a person with disability was difficult, and often traumatic.
“Everything from long delays, to intrusive screening and pat-downs, to the process of getting on an airplane,” Mr Wallace said.
He said the way he had been brought onto planes in the past had made him stop flying.
“That is literally, with the smaller planes, what they do for people with disabilities to get on a plane, and I simply won’t travel on planes anymore,” he said.
Ms Russell said there were some simple concepts that could improve the experiences of other people with disabilities in future.
“It could be that someone would arrive or enter the airport and could push a button, for example, and someone could come over and say ‘What do you need?'” she said.
“I know there are some symbolic things that airports are doing, but really honestly, they’re not working.”
Ms Russell said she did not believe the Canberra Airport team intended for the incident to occur.
Head of aviation at the Canberra Airport, Michael Thomson, says they have to balance accessibility with government mandated security outcomes. (ABC News: Nick Haggarty)
Canberra Airport head of aviation Michael Thomson said he couldn’t speak to individual experiences but said he he was very sorry that Ms Russell had gone through this experience.
“We take our role very seriously, and we really don’t like to hear people not having a good experience in security, so we do a lot to educate our security screeners,” he said.
“We work with a wide range of disability groups, and we also have to balance between ensuring we comply with the government mandated security outcomes.
“We work with the Cancer Council, Autism Spectrum Australia, Spinal Cord Injuries Australia, the sunflower lanyard hidden disability scheme. We’re also working with [Access Ability Australia] and hidden disabilities international program.
“We do an awful lot in this space, and it’s really unfortunate that certain people have poor experiences, but I can say that in October we had 120,000 people pass through that security checkpoint, and we had two complaints about secondary screening.”
