Cinemas block disability access - 7 December 2009

The major cinema chains are asking to be made exempt from complaints to the Human Rights Commission under section 55 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 relating to the provision of captions and audio description in cinemas. The cinemas say that if they are granted the exemption they will increase to 35 the number of screens capable of delivering captions and providing audio description capability.


“Hoyts, Greater Union, Village and Reading Cinemas own 125 cinemas –1182 screens –between them and they are committing to a minimum of three screenings a week in 35 specialised cinemas. This would equal around per 0.3 per cent of the estimated 40,000 films they screen each week.

“The cinema organisations need to be doing more to provide a service that is inclusive and follows the international standards. This Thursday is International Human Rights Day - disability rights are human rights and granting this exemption would be contradictory to Australia’s international obligations. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) provides for participation in leisure activities and cultural life,” says Ian Cohen, Greens MLC and Disability Services spokesperson.

“It is very frustrating for people with a disability, their friends and family, just to go to a movie when there are only twelve independent cinemas in Australia that have open captioning and audio description.

“This issue highlights the problems faced by people with sensory disabilities in our society. It is estimated that 1 in 6 Australians is affected by hearing loss and over 300,000 Australians suffer partial to total loss of sight. This is a large portion of the population excluded from going to a movie.

“The cinemas are putting forward a less than generous or adequate ‘package’ to absolve them from providing a real and inclusive service for all patrons. This exemption is also out of touch with the fact that we have an increasingly ageing portion of our society - who will not be ale to attend the cinema as their hearing and sight continues to falter.

“Australia is behind most other English speaking countries in the provision of accessible cinema. The most recent figures from the US show that they have over 830 accessible cinemas, which is about 15% of all cinemas. There is no reason that major Australian cinemas are unable to provide greater access and take appropriate measures to ensure that people with disability can attend films screened in accessible formats.

“Australians who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind and vision impaired will lose their right to complain about the lack of provision of captioning and audio description at any of the cinemas owned by these four exhibitors if the Australian Human Rights Commission grants this exemption. The cinemas should not evade their responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act.”