From:	Christine 
Sent:	Sunday, 6 December 2009 8:15 PM
To:	disabdis
Subject:	Request for exemption from the Disability Discrimination 
Act for a period of two and a half years. 

I wish to submit my objection to the request by Village Roadshow, 
Greater Union, Hoyts and Reading Cinemas to be exempt from the 
Disability Discrimination Act for a period of 2 ½ years. I do not 
have a disability.

What a cop out! It is quite obvious that the management responsible 
for petitioning for this exemption have no compassion for the many 
fellow Australians who, as well as all the usual day to day stresses, 
have the added disadvantage of a disability which makes their daily 
lives so much more difficult.

It is one of our accepted pleasures in life to be able to freely 
choose to visit a cinema and enjoy being flooded with images and 
surround sound to take a step out reality – it is something we take 
for granted.

If the government decided that no one in Australia had the right to 
ever visit the cinema in the next 2.5yrs can you imagine the public 
uproar.  But worse, could you imagine the crys of Village Roadshow, 
Greater Union, Hoyts and Reading cinemas if they were to be 
effectively put out of business by this?

By allowing Cinemas to have the power to discriminate against those 
who may be vision and/or hearing impaired it is like saying that 
these people are less than, not equal to and that they do not have 
the same rights as everyone else. It is a disgrace in a country that 
has fought for the rights of all people that this request should be 
taken seriously.  The Cinema should be for all to enjoy – do not give 
in to bullying by large corporations over the rights of the 
individual.

Regards

Christine O’Connor