When a storm forced her Canberra-bound plane to divert back to Melbourne, Samantha Connor, a disability advocate, and her partner found themselves trying to hail a wheelchair taxi at Melbourne airport late on a Friday night in early December.
Earlier that day, Connor had spent eight hours filming training about the discrimination faced by people with disabilities when needing a taxi.
While trying to leave the airport, she said four accessible-vehicle drivers refused to take the pair due to her wheelchair.
Three told her their vehicle’s wheelchair lift did not work – which is a requirement under Victorian government regulations. Connor told each driver she did not require any assistance and could fold down her wheelchair herself.
“I was tired as I’d been filming all day. I felt like I was past my tipping point,” she said.
“Everybody else is walking past us and catching a taxi – we’re just arguing with taxi drivers for 40 minutes.”
Blair Davies, chief executive of the Australian Taxi Industry Association, said it was “outrageous” Connor had faced four taxi refusals.
“Drivers are not allowed to refuse. They’re doing the wrong thing,” he said.
Connor filmed parts of her interactions with two of the drivers. In one video seen by Guardian Australia, the driver of an accessible van tells Connor to “wait”, saying “he’s going to call you a wheelchair taxi” while gesturing to the taxi rank marshal. In the video, the driver says his vehicle does not have wheelchair access.
In the video, Connor tells the driver “it’s against the law not to take us” and says she can ride in a regular taxi too. The driver refuses.
“He said ‘no I can’t take you’, and I said ‘it’s illegal not to take me. You’ve been called by the taxi rank operator.’ It’s not rocket science. He just flat out said no,” she said.
Connor said another taxi driver, in a regular sedan, had seen the events and picked them up.
“The driver was horrified and said it was really bad behaviour,” she said.
Victoria’s wheelchair accessible vehicle subsidy scheme subsidises the purchase cost of the vehicle – to make it similar to a conventional taxi – to enable access in urban and regional parts of the state. Accessible cab drivers are required to prioritise wheelchair users and must accept a fare, regardless of trip length.
The Victorian government also pays a fee to booking service providers for drivers helping those with accessibility and mobility needs get into the vehicles. It is designed to reimburse drivers for the additional time it takes to load and unload a passenger in a wheelchair or on a scooter.
Refusing to take a passenger on the basis of their disability is a possible breach of disability discrimination legislation.
Connor estimated she had made 100 complaints to taxi companies over the past six years about refusals.
She said there was a “bitter irony” that she had been in Melbourne to film videos as part of training for Safe Transport Victoria – which regulates commercial passenger vehicles – about taxi refusals for people with vision impairment.
A Safe Transport Victoria spokesperson said it was “deeply disappointed to hear of the passengers’ recent experiences”.
“Passengers with a disability deserve to be treated with respect and be able to travel to work and essential services,” the spokesperson said.
“We will continue to remind drivers and booking providers of their legal obligations when transporting passengers with a disability.”
“Complaints about potential discrimination on the basis of a disability can be made to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.”
Disability advocates have long campaigned against taxi discrimination, saying refusals are an everyday reality. They say some accessible vans have preferred to carry passengers with luggage rather than wheelchair users.
But Davies said Melbourne airport should manage the taxi rank and discipline drivers based on the evidence marshals witnessed.
“There should be repercussions for each of those cab drivers who refused her reasonable request and the best place for that is Tullamarine airport,” he said.
Under Melbourne airport’s policies, marshals can direct taxis that refuse fares to leave the rank on the spot.
Melbourne airport was contacted for comment.
