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Speaker who uses wheelchair 'carried onto stage' at disability conference

Organisers of a national disability conference in Melbourne have been left red-faced after a blogger documented a speaker being carried on stage because it was not wheelchair accessible.

The participants of the sixth annual National Disability Summit who had disabilities paid $2000 to sit together at a table at the back of the venue. Only 12 concession tickets had been arranged for participants with disabilities at the summit, ABC reported.

Mobility impaired speakers had to be lifted onto the stage and attendee Jax Jacki Brown said the embarrassing gaffe revealed how hard it is for people with disabilities.

The accessible toilets were full of chairs. Supplied.
The accessible toilets were full of chairs. Supplied.

“We have a long way to go,” she said.

But that wasn’t the only awkward moment at the conference. Ms Brown wrote on her blog that the ”accessible toilet was filled with chairs and used as a storage space in the week leading up to the conference".

The food provided was on tall tables that were too high for people in wheel chairs to reach.

Disability advocate Jarrod Marrinon told media he was shocked at the organisers lack of foresight.

"I was pretty taken aback when I realised just how much these people don't really think about what they're doing," he said.

The organisers, Informa, have yet to comment publicly.