Sheri Allard could not believe her eyes when she followed her six-year-old daughter Jaede into an accessible toilet in Griffith at the weekend.
"When I walked in the shock that I got … it was needle caps everywhere, wrappers of needles, used needles, condom wrappers, drugs, and saline solution," she said.
Jaede has autism and special needs and had run ahead to use the toilet at a shopping complex on Banna Avenue on Sunday.
"I have never seen anything like it," Ms Allard said.
Jaede struggles to communicate verbally and, as a result, Ms Allard will have her tested for a range of diseases.
"She can't communicate to me if she's pricked her fingers or toes and there were needles all around the toilet and all over the floor," she said.
"I have no idea what she could have contracted. I'm beside myself."
Ms Allard said she was "livid" because there was no sharps bin or general rubbish bin in the toilet.
Access lock installed
Griffith Real Estate's Brian Bertolin oversees the shopping centre on behalf of the private owners and said the bin was removed because it was set on fire by vandals.
He said the incident had been taken "seriously".
"We've since taken measures to install a disability access lock to limit access. Hopefully this will minimise the risk," he said in a statement.
Mayor Doug Curran said the problem was not isolated to the shopping complex.
"We have a real problem with this happening in our toilets and disabled toilets at a higher frequency because they're not used [as frequently] by the general public," he said.
Diana Palmer is a consultant with Ideas, a national disability information service.
She said vandalism like this disproportionately impacted accessible toilets across the country, and the MLAK installed by Griffith Real Estate was a common solution.
The Master Locksmiths Access Key, or an MLAK, fits a restricted master key to public facilities such as bathrooms, change rooms and liberty swings that people with disabilities or access needs can apply for.
"MLAKs can minimise or reduce the problems associated with accessible toilets," Ms Palmer said.
The keys are widely used by local councils and bodies such as the National Parks Association.
Master key a divisive solution
Mr Curran said MLAKs used to be used by council but were discontinued under advice from other disability groups.
"We would like to have an MLAK system in place but we've been told we're unable to do that and these toilets should be accessible at all times," he said.
Serena Ovens is the chief executive of the Physical Disability Council of NSW and said MLAKs were divisive within the community.
She said they were effective at keeping accessible spaces clean, safe and in good order.
"But then there's the opposite side of the coin, which is about allowing people to access any bathroom without having to hold or find an MLAK," she said.
Ms Palmer said more awareness around MLAKs was needed to make them effective.
"You would need to do some very good public awareness campaigns about the MLAK system to people with disabilities and the broader community," she said.
"It's one where we probably need to come together as a sector and see if there's another solution," Ms Ovens said.
