Festival-goers want music festival organisers to improve accessibility at their events, following a series of blunders at this year's Laneway Festival.
Patrons have told Hack that security at the Sydney leg of the festival were turning away people with disability from their accessible viewing platform, even when they provided correspondence from organisers granting them access to the space.
There were also no disabled toilets listed on the site map, and one accessible toilet had a step leading up to it, making manoeuvring in a wheelchair difficult.
On the sunny first Sunday of February, 25,000 people attended the Sydney Laneway, with tens of thousands more attending events throughout the month in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide.
Maddy Ruskin, 25, lives with myalgic encephalomyelitis, sometimes known as chronic fatigue syndrome or ME/CFS, which makes standing for long periods of time difficult.
Ahead of the festival, Maddy contacted organisers to ask if she could bring a foldable chair with her.
"They said it wasn't possible. That's when I came to the conclusion that I needed to rent a wheelchair."
While Maddy registered her attendance, it was not required for the festival, and organisers have told Hack that eight wheelchair users registered in advance for the Sydney event.
Maddy was told there would be an accessible viewing platform for her to enjoy the festival. However, she says, there wasn't one at the smaller stage, and when she got to the first accessible platform at the main stage, she was turned away.
"I was told I couldn't go up because there were already two people up there."
Maddy tried a second accessible platform, on the other side of the main stage, and was also told they had reached their capacity of two wheelchair users at a time.
In a statement to Hack, a spokesperson for Laneway said there was no two-person limit for the accessibility platform.
"We are sorry to hear that a patron was told there was a two-wheelchair-users limit, as this information is incorrect and wasn't what was briefed to security by our teams."
Maddy was eventually able to access the platform, but was only able to take one friend up with her.
The spokesperson for Laneway said that decision was up to security on site: "There was a limit of one companion per accessible user, to allow space to accommodate all users that required access."
"Security was briefed to approach this from a commonsense perspective — if the platform was not full, additional companions and/or friends could come up on there as well."
Hack also asked Laneway about the lack of accessible toilets listed on the official site map.
The spokesperson labelled it an "administrative oversight" and that all facilities were in line with national standards.
Maddy said finding an accessible bathroom was difficult without the map, and when she did find one, it wasn't up to scratch.
"When I did find one, I was nearly flung out of my chair because there was a step [to get in], which is completely the opposite of what an accessible toilet needs to be," she said.
'Lack of communication'
Jane* has autism and ADHD, which can mean she gets overstimulated in large crowds.
She contacted Laneway before the Sydney festival and was told she, too, could use the accessible viewing platform to separate herself slightly from the crowd.
However, when she got to the event, Jane was denied access to the stage, even after producing documentation that showed she was able to use it.
"[I] showed them the email, showed them everything, explained the situation. And they said, 'No, this isn't the accessible area. This is for VIPs'," Jane told Hack.
The officials directed Jane to a second platform, on the other side of the main stage. There, the same thing happened: Jane was denied access.
At one point, a security guard granted access to a person using a wheelchair, while continuing to deny Jane access.
"They kept saying to me, 'She's in a wheelchair she's in a wheelchair'. And I wasn't about to explain to a security guard how different disabilities manifest," Jane said.
"It was just very clear that there was a lack of communication between the volunteers and staff and the security hired."
The spokesperson for Laneway said they were committed to doing better in the future.
"This was an unfortunate incident that occurred via an external party who misunderstood the platform's briefing instructions," they said in a statement.
"Moving forward, we will be looking to position a dedicated, trained liaison at each platform."
'We weren't welcome here'
Former Australian of the Year and disability advocate Dylan Alcott and his brother Zack Alcott have created guidelines for festival organisers, to help people with disability have a safer experience.
However, many of the recommendations — such as ramp access, clearly laid out maps, designated parking and drop-off bays and properly training staff on inclusivity — are still not making it to festival grounds.
Disability Discrimination Commissioner Ben Gauntlett told Hack at the time that guidelines are a good first step.
"There's definitely a place for government regulation insuring inclusivity," he said, adding that regulation must be balanced so that gigs and festivals can continue to operate.
Most importantly, he said, live music organisers must listen to the needs of people living with disability.
"You've got to have the lived experience yourself to give the insight that's required," Mr Gauntlett said.
Maddy said her experience at Laneway — which was the first music festival she'd attended — made her feel "awful".
"It really made me feel like Laneway was committed to the optics of accessibility instead of actual accessibility," she said.
"It made me feel like I wasn't meant to be attending the festival, like chronically ill and disabled people weren't welcome there."
Laneway festival organisers said they were taking on feedback and hoped to improve their practices in future.
"Putting on a large-scale music festival requires constant adaptation and a willingness to learn from and improve upon previous events. We will continue to take steps to prioritise the creation of accessible and inclusive spaces," a spokesperson said in a statement.
* Name changed
