Refused lease because of toilet access

October 2013

Zoe* and Lily* have problems with mobility. They applied to lease the ground floor of a warehouse, but their application was refused. Zoe and Lily were told that there was only a toilet for men on the ground floor, and that the toilet for women was upstairs and couldn’t be accessed because of their mobility issues.

Zoe and Lily lodged a complaint of disability discrimination with ADNSW. 

At the conciliation conference, it became clear that the women could use the ground floor toilet as it had one entrance with a lock. After discussions, the real estate agent offered Zoe and Lily the lease.

*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals.