00:00Last February, P.E. teacher Peter Frank landed at Melbourne Airport, seeing eye-dog Anya
00:08by his side.
00:09Just like he'd done dozens of times before, he joined the rank and approached the next
00:13available car, before he was allegedly turned away.
00:17He said, no, you have to book a new pet, and I said, well, she's not a pet.
00:22And I said, she's an assistance animal, and what you'll do is actually break the Anti-Discrimination
00:27Act.
00:28And he point-blank refused, wouldn't let her in.
00:32Then he says it happened again, with a second driver.
00:35That one was a bit worse, the driver simply had his window down and said, no, and drove
00:38off.
00:39It was a pretty humiliating experience to have in front of a lot of people.
00:43Under anti-discrimination laws, Uber drivers must accept riders with assistance animals.
00:49Frustrated, Peter approached an Uber representative to advocate for himself.
00:53You work for Uber, and you don't know what the laws are in relation to discrimination
01:00against those with disabilities and assistance animals, that is surely your job.
01:05He says the experience scarred him, and he's on edge every time he orders a car.
01:11A 2022 survey by Vision Australia found 64% of handlers had been refused service by a
01:18taxi or rideshare service.
01:20Peter is suing Uber Australia and Melbourne Airport.
01:23He's seeking compensation, an apology and change.
01:27Obviously change within the dog guide handlers community, but change for disabilities regardless.
01:35We would like the tribunal to say that Uber's conduct was unlawful, and make an order saying
01:41that they can't keep doing this kind of thing.
01:43Uber Australia says it takes riders' legal right to travel with assistance animals seriously.
01:48In April of this year, it introduced mandatory training for new drivers, and under harsh
01:53new penalties, drivers who break the policy twice will be banned from the platform.
01:58In a statement, Melbourne Airport says it is sorry for Mr. Frank's experience, saying
02:02it was unacceptable.
02:04The matter has been filed in Victoria's civil and administrative tribunal.
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