Buninyong man David Morrison rejected by a Ballarat taxi for having guide dog

On July 27, 2023, David Morrison, 68, tried to book a Ballarat Taxis' cab to take him from Mount Clear to his home in Buninyong.

But, he was left stranded on the street after the taxi he scheduled pulled up alongside him before driving off and cancelling the ride.

Mr Morrison has about one per cent residual vision so he can see small areas, but lost most of his sight about 10 years ago.

He said he used to use a cane to help him, but since partnering with his guide dog Petra, he had been regularly rejected by taxis.

"It just keeps on happening in Ballarat, it happens in Melbourne, it happens all over Australia," he said.

After the most recent incident, Mr Morrison said he was left standing outside without a coat, in a strong wind while the sun was setting.

"I felt extremely anxious [and] extremely vulnerable," he said.

"Because I rely on the taxi service, and they confirmed the booking, [then] suddenly I had no way of getting home."

According to the Victorian government, it is illegal for taxis, Ubers, or any type of shared ride drivers to reject a passenger because they have a guide dog.

Owing to a spinal injury he sustained in an industrial accident, Mr Morrison said he also can't walk very far and finds it uncomfortable to sit on the bus.

Because of this, he said he was "completely reliant" on taxis to transport him around Ballarat.

"In terms of my mobility, and wanting to get to the station, or wanting to go to the doctor, or wanting to go to the hospital, or anything else that an ordinary person does, taxis are totally critical," he said.

"I often have no other way of getting around other than by using a taxi."

After having the same experience with Ballarat Taxis multiple times, Mr Morrison said he would have to consider booking his trips with different companies despite longer wait times.

While the majority of the blame should rest with drivers who refused to pick people with guide dogs up, Mr Morrison said there also needs to be greater enforcement of the law.

"I believe the issue is the individual drivers who choose not to want a guide dog in their taxi, and they just cancel, and they just cancel, and they just cancel," he said.

"So my beef is not with Ballarat Taxis, although they have a legal responsibility, because the driver and taxi company have breached the Disability Discrimination Act."

"I've had a gutful, I'm wondering if it has to reach the stage where a guide dog user gets killed because they're in an unsafe place, because the taxi's decided it's not convenient for them to take a guide dog user, [before] there will be enforcement [of the law]."

Ballarat Taxis chief executive Stephen Armstrong said they were taking the allegations "extremely seriously", and any drivers who refused to pick up passengers with guide dogs would face a re-education program.

He said the company, as part of their induction process, taught all drivers they have a responsibility to pick up passengers with guide dogs.

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"I interview every driver myself that we put into our system, and something I point out in particular is the need to carry assistance animals and guide dogs," he said.

Mr Armstrong also said 30 to 40 per cent of their business were people with a disability, and serving that customer base was highly important to the business.

He said the company had recently invested in another wheelchair accessible taxi, and were starting to put guide dog stickers on their vehicles to show they were animal friendly.

"If you're in the business, just on a commercial basis, you probably wouldn't bother doing it," he said.

"But, we do it because we feel like we would be letting the community down if we didn't."

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