Mapped: Public toilets in SA - the best, the worst, and the missing
South Aussies have had their say on the state of our public toilets and some are the pits. Now there are calls for laws to force councils to do better. How are your local loos? See the heat map.
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New laws are needed to force councils to install more public toilets, an expert says, as analysis shows large areas of Adelaide have no loos to use.
But councils also need more state government money to help fund them, particularly in low socioeconomic and country areas, Flinders University social scientist Lisel O’Dwyer says.
Associate Professor O’Dwyer said the problem was public toilets were considered “a local government issue”, yet councils were “not obliged to provide them”.
“There aren’t enough because it’s expensive to maintain them and keep replacing things that get damaged,” she said.
“In more affluent areas like Burnside, people are reluctant to have public toilets in parks or near their homes because they’re afraid of anti-social behaviour, mainly drugs, but also graffiti ... so in a way it’s a bit of a catch-22.”
In the latest example, Beaumont residents objected to a toilet planned for Brock Reserve, saying they feared it would attract “unsavoury characters” and “sexual deviates”.
Advertiser.com.au has used data from the federally funded National Public Toilet Map to create an online “heat map” showing areas where there are few or no public toilets in the suburbs and along the coast.
The National Public Toilet Map was created 20 years ago to improve the independence and quality of life of a now-estimated 4.8m Australians affected by incontinence. It includes the location of 1807 toilets in South Australia.
Pedestrian Council SA director Dr Rob Atkinson said one solution might be for businesses willing to let the public use their loos better publicise them.
“There’s a lot of loos out there that belong to people,” he said. “If they were publicised better it might be good for business.”
Adelaide City Council is reviewing its network of 56 public toilet blocks across the city, North Adelaide and the parklands.
Its associate director for infrastructure Garry Herdegen said “all but one” had disability access and all were cleaned at least daily.
The council has budgeted to install new loos at Park 10, which includes the university sports fields off War Memorial Drive.
The council’s loos at the new Quentin Kenihan Inclusive Playspace have the tick from Changing Places, an organisation that accredits loos as up to latest disability standards and is lobbying for many more that meet the mark.
Approved Changing Places are public toilets that include an adult-sized changing table, ceiling hoist, privacy screen and extra space to meet the needs of people with complex disabilities and their carers.
Where Changing Places are not available, the people who need them tend to avoid spending long periods away from home, or have to lie down on often dirty floors of disability toilets.
“Having access to a safe, clean and dignified toilet facility is a basic human right,” a spokeswoman for the organisation said.
“We need Changing Places to become mainstream and thought of and included in the community the same way as accessible toilets and accessible parking bays are.”
Most of the state’s 14 Changing Places are in and around Adelaide, with two in the Barossa Valley.
Holdfast Bay is seeking accreditation for its new loos in Hindmarsh Lane off Jetty Rd, Glenelg.
Local mum Hayley Hinton said it was “definitely a much-needed addition to the Jetty Rd precinct”.
“The parents room is very spacious, which is great for big families and mums with prams,” she said.
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