Lambton's Rodney Morris says it is "very demeaning" that the only way his eight-year-old daughter Ella can receive her school award on stage on Wednesday is for him to carry her up stairs.
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Mr Morris has taken the morning off to assist his daughter to get on stage to receive an award from her teachers at Lambton Public School's presentation day at the Starlight auditorium in Wests New Lambton.
"She doesn't want her Dad carrying her," Mr Morris said. "She gets self-conscious about it. This day and age you want everyone included."
Mr Morris and Ella, whose mobility is affected by cerebral palsy, were in the same situation two years ago when Ella received an award at the same event on the same stage.
"Except Ella was two years lighter," Mr Morris said.
Wests has donated the Starlight room to Lambton school for its presentation day for a number of years.
Mr Morris said his wife called Wests last Monday, December 2, after she was informed by the school that Ella would be receiving an award and the stage was not wheelchair accessible.
Mr Morris said functions staff at Wests informed his wife that she or the school would have to hire a lift for Ella to get on the stage, or the school could hand out its awards in front of the platform.
Mr Morris said the club's stage should already be wheelchair accessible, especially given the legacy of Knights recruitment manager and former player Alex McKinnon. Wests owns the rugby league club.
"They should have a ramp ready to go. It's not a witch hunt but sometimes you need incidents like this for things to change," he said.
It's not a witch hunt but sometimes you need incidents like this for things to change
- Rodney Morris
Wests chief executive officer Phil Gardner said that if the school had let the functions coordinator know from the outset it needed a wheelchair-accessible stage, Wests would have donated its Mayfield or city venue.
"They have used that [Starlight] room many times before, and presented an award to the same young girl - so the room's limitations were well known," Mr Gardner said.
Mr Gardner said he checked on Tuesday if there was a "hire-able solution" for the stage and found there were no lifts or ramps in Newcastle to suit its height.
"It's something we will now certainly look at," he said.
Due to the stage's design, he said it was not possible to install a permanent ramp.
"When it was built there were no access requirements. To build a compliant ramp for the height it would have to snake around half the auditorium," he said.
A Department of Education spokesperson said on Tuesday the school was "working to resolve the access issue".
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