Notice for exemption: Brisbane
Transport

The Australian Human Rights Commission has received an application from Brisbane Transport under section 55
of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) (DDA) and Part 33A of the
Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (Transport Standards)
for an exemption from s 23 of the DDA and Part 11 of the Transport
Standards.

• Click here for the application

Application

Brisbane Transport advises that 361 of its buses do not comply with Part 11
and Schedule 2 section 2.2 of the Transport Standards, relating to handrails and
grab rails on public transport.

Brisbane Transport advises that it purchased the
non-conforming buses before the commencement of the Transport Standards and that
the non-conformity relates to the diameter of the rails or the reduced clearance
between the rail and adjacent surfaces.

Brisbane Transport requests an exemption for up to 5 years because it claims
upgrading the handrails on non-compliant buses would impose an unjustifiable
hardship upon it.

Brisbane Transport submits that the Commission should grant an exemption to
it because:

• it has a fleet management plan that will result in either the retirement or
  rectification of all non-complaint buses in the short to medium
  term;

• it has policies in place to mitigate the risk of discrimination or complaint
  during the period that non-complaint buses remain in service past the 31
  December compliance date;

• the nature of the non-compliance relates to minor non-conformances with the
  relevant engineering standard, rather than outright breaches;

• it has no reports of injury relating to hand and grab rails pertaining to
  the Brisbane Transport fleet;

• modification of the fleet will require expenditure of significant public
  funds that may better be utilised on areas of greater non-compliance elsewhere
  throughout the Brisbane City Council; and

• Brisbane Transport has an ongoing monitoring process that will react to
  changes in projected fleet life and reassess any negative impact that service
  life extensions may have on non-compliant buses. Where these life extensions
  occur beyond the requested five year period, Brisbane Transport’s Senior
  Leadership team commits to undertaking Part 11 modifications in order for the
  buses to remain in service.

Request for submissions

The Australian Human Rights Commission is presently considering this
exemption application and invites interested parties to make submissions,
preferably by email to legal@humanrights.gov.au.

Submissions may also be addressed by mail to the Legal Section, Australian
Human Rights Commission, GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001.

Submissions must be received by 1 November 2012. Submissions received
after this date will not be considered.

To promote open public discussion and exchange of views, the Australian Human
Rights Commission intends to post submissions made electronically on its
internet site. Any requests for material to be treated as confidential should be
clearly indicated.