Metlink accused of breaching human rights of disabled persons

By Dan Moskovitz

Vic’s Disabled Students Association is accusing Metlink of breaching the human rights of disabled persons, with on-bus discrimination preventing disabled people from receiving their education. 

According to co-president Hope Cotton, since the DSA reformed at the start of the year, treatment onboard Metlink buses has been a constant discussion topic in the group.

Member Michaela Caughley, who uses a wheelchair, said she was battling Metlink multiple times a week. Her struggles included the bus’s wheelchair ramp not being lowered, or getting pushed without her consent. 

“Every morning I’m thinking about whether I am even going to be able to get on the bus. Or if I am going to have to advocate for my right to get on and off in a safe way?” said Caughley.

Caughley has no other way of getting to university, and drivers not lowering the ramp for her to get on the bus have made her late for class.

Bus drivers have also refused to put the ramp down for Caughley when getting off, resulting in her having to do a wheelie to get off the bus. 

“If I screwed the wheelie up, I would have fallen backwards and potentially hit my head. If I hadn't done the wheelie, my front wheels would have hit the curb and I would have been thrown out of my wheelchair.”

Not everyone has said skill. Co-president Cotton said one student who didn’t have the ramp lowered by the driver got a concussion when the driver tried to wheel them off the bus backwards, despite the student’s protests. This led to an uneven distribution of weight, resulting in the wheelchair tipping. The student hit their head on the curb and got a concussion.

Cotton says Metlink has also failed to stop harassment of disabled students. One student in a wheelchair requested the ramp to be put down, only for another passenger - who the student did not know - to claim they were together. The driver listened to the able-bodied passenger.

“Because the person was in a wheelchair, the driver listened to the passenger who was harassing them and not the wheelchair user. Instead, the wheelchair user missed their stop and was stuck on the bus with someone unsafe for them,” said Cotton. 

“In general there seems to be a pattern of drivers ignoring disabled people's agency and their ability to know what's best for them and their bodies.” 

Both Cotton and Caughley express the need for better training in Metlink regarding - and in consultation with - disabled people. Because for them, it’s a matter of being able to participate in everyday life. 

“This treatment goes against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons with a Disability because it impedes on our access to society and education, as well as being a form of discrimination under the Human Rights Act,” said Cotton. 

Salient asked Metlink about their processes regarding disabled people, and got a response reportedly much more thorough than VuWDSA’s complaints. 

“Metlink is in the process of engaging a specialist training provider to co-design, develop and deliver an accessibility awareness training programme,” said Metlink group manager Samantha Gain in a statement. 

“The majority of the panel selecting this provider are people with a range of disabilities.

“In 2023 VuWDSA were invited to apply to have a representative on Metlink’s Public Transport Advisory Group and we continue to welcome feedback from them about how we can improve services for disabled passengers.”

Cotton described Metlink’s response to their complaints as “lukewarm,” and said VUWDSA would be investigating its options. A complaint to the Ombudsman, the government’s chief watchdog, was not out of the question.