HERALD SUN Newspaper Melbourne
Blast for cinema
By FAY BURSTIN
08sep00
A CITY cinema complex discriminated against a disabled patron by not providing
wheelchair access to all its theatres, a tribunal found yesterday.
Film fan Frank Hall-Bentick, who has muscular dystrophy, complained that the
Greater Union's Russell St complex had wheelchair access to only two of its six
screens and no disabled toilets.
The Anti-Discrimination List of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal
heard major releases sometimes took 12 weeks to screen in the complex's
smaller cinemas, the only ones with wheelchair access.
Mr Hall-Bentick, 46, said seeing films was one of his most important leisure
activities. "When we're talking to our friends and colleagues, we talk about
what we've done on the weekend . . . and people talk about films they've seen
and say you should go and see it," he said.
"I'd love to see that film but I've got to wait five, 10, 20 weeks before I
can."
Tribunal member Greg Lyons found Greater Union's waning commercial success
was no excuse for lack of facilities.
He heard the company had since done $66,000 in renovations, including an
internal ramp and disabled toilet.
Mr Hall-Bentick, of Richmond, had sought building renovations, not monetary
compensation. A spokeswoman for Greater Union declined to comment.
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THE AGE 8th September 2000
City cinema ordered to fix access for disabled
Byline: By STEVE BUTCHER
A tribunal finds that a cinema discriminated against a patron.
A leading cinema company has been ordered to make its Melbourne complex
accessible to patrons with mobility disabilities after a tribunal found it
had discriminated against a wheelchair-bound man.
Frank Hall-Bentick claimed discrimination against the Greater Union
Organisation Pty Ltd after being told at the company's Russell Cinemas he
could not gain access to any of the complex's six theatres in his electric
wheelchair.
Mr Hall-Bentick, 47, of Richmond, said he found there was only staircase
access to the cinemas when he arrived to see a film on May 2, 1997.
Mr Hall-Bentick, a disability officer, said the toilets were also
inaccessible and he was told at the ticket counter there was no other way to
enter the cinemas except by the stairs.
He alleged discrimination against the company on the basis of his impairment
in the provision of services, being the provision of entertainment or
recreation, and access to and use of places the public was permitted to
enter.
A senior member of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal's
anti-discrimination list, Dr Greg Lyons, yesterday found Greater Union could
have taken ``relatively straightforward special measures to ensure
discrimination did not take place''.
Dr Lyons said in his decision the requirement of patrons to be able to get
up and down stairs to access relevant services was not reasonable.
He said the company's measures to improve access and assist wheelchair
patrons undertaken in the 1980s and 1990s were not part of a coherent policy
and were ``patchy'', but they indicated a recognition of its obligation not
to discriminate against those with impairments.
Dr Lyons said the person who responded to Mr Hall-Bentick's inquiry on the
day did not mention he could access theatre two or three via a laneway at
the side of the Russell Street building.
He said the company, which denied the allegations, took no steps until
September last year to examine installing stair platform lifts.
The costs of implementing measures at the complex to improve access for
people in wheelchairs did not appear prohibitive, nor was the company not
financially placed to carry out the works, he said.
Dr Lyons said Greater Union, on the eve of the hearing last February,
undertook renovations to improve disability access and had decided to rotate
films screened in theatres two and three.
A company manager also announced last December that all films that opened at
the complex should screen in either of those two cinemas before their season
ended.
Dr Lyons said: ``It is important (the company) provide Mr Hall-Bentick with
access to films shown at the Russell Cinemas when (he) wants to see them and
not just when they are losing popularity, which is when films are rotated
through the wheelchair accessible theatres two and three.''
He ordered, among others, that Greater Union lower one part of the counter
at the ticket box so Mr Hall-Bentick ``can buy tickets in a practical and
dignified manner''.
Mr Hall-Bentick, who represented himself, told The Age that while he was
happy with the result, he was disappointed Greater Union ``had to be forced
to do the right thing''.
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Publication: The Age
Publication date: 8-9-2000
Edition: Late
Page no: 7
Section: News
Length: 536
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Previous access to the lower ground cinemas were via the backdoors down cobble stoned alleys with
security cameras because of the local drug program. Not exactly a red carpet welcome at the front
entrance.
In fact they were just finishing the disabled tiolet and ramp down to Cinemas 2 & 3 when we visited
the site on the 2nd day of the Hearing. The concrete lip on the front step wasn't dry and when tried
to used it I plough in up to my wheel hubs. Very Embarrassing for Greater Union.
Why were they undertaking these renovations so late you ask, to impress the Senior Member of the
Tribunial that they really are serious about disabled people using their cinemas was their reply.
