METRO has refused to attend a human rights commission hearing with a blind Altona woman hindered by substandard station announcements, because she would not sign a confidentiality agreement.
Annmarie Kelly, who catches the train at Westona station, was due to meet the rail operator at the commission’s headquarters yesterday to discuss her claim that poor announcements unlawfully discriminate against her, causing her to regularly catch the wrong train.
But at the scheduled meeting, Metro representatives refused to meet her until Ms Kelly signed a legally enforceable undertaking that would have prevented her from discussing the conciliation hearing.
”I didn’t want to be unable to talk about the poor announcements … and how they are very important for me,” she said.
”If I spoke to my family and friends and it gets around I’ve breached the confidentiality agreement … I could be in trouble.
”And I didn’t want to get in trouble for standing up for my rights.”
As The Age revealed last month, Ms Kelly launched the action in a bid to make Metro improve its announcements and ensure it complied with disability laws.
Haphazard and inaudible announcements at stations and by drivers, combined with malfunctioning information consoles at stations, meant she relied on strangers for help.
But Metro’s refusal to meet with her and the commission’s subsequent inability to resolve the matter means Ms Kelly will now take the case to VCAT in the hope of obtaining a ruling that Metro has breached anti-discrimination laws and must improve announcements.
”I’m very angry … all they had to do is say we will try and fix the problem and I would have been happy, but they wouldn’t even come to meet me.”
An Age online poll conducted last month showed 87 per cent of about 4500 respondents could not understand Metro announcements.
Labor MP Jill Hennessy, who acted as Ms Kelly’s advocate through the commission process and confirmed Metro would not meet her, said it had not even bothered to make an offer before demanding the confidentiality agreement.
Ms Hennessy said thousands of train passengers relied on announcements but Metro had put its public relations before trying to make services more accessible.
”They’ve refused to even look at the simple fix,” she said.
A spokeswoman for Metro last night said it attended the commission to better understand the situation and suggest options for improved announcements. She did not deny representatives had refused to meet Ms Kelly but said she had not acted in good faith.
”The complaint was dismissed by the commission as the other parties did not agree to the terms of the conciliation process, nor attend in good faith,” she said.
A commission spokeswoman said it was the parties’ responsibility to negotiate whether there was a confidentiality agreement or not.
– The Age
