Brisbane City Council apologises, pays $13k in discrimination case over online forms

A disabled woman has received more than $13,000 and an official apology from Brisbane City Council after a tribunal found she was indirectly discriminated against.

Brisbane City Council was ordered to apologise and pay compensation to a disabled Redland woman. Picture: File photo

A disabled Redland woman, forced to fill out an online Brisbane City Council form to access her private information, has received an official apology and been paid $13,847.60 in compensation after winning a legal claim which found she was discriminated against.

The woman, who cannot be identified and was referred to as JVM but who uses the pseudonym Jane Davies, lodged the complaint after struggling to complete the council’s Right to Information form in August 2021.

Despite her disabilities making the process difficult, she was told she had no choice but to use the official form, even though she had previously been allowed to submit requests via email.

Initially, Ms Davies took her grievance about the council to the Queensland Human Rights Commission in 2021 where the matter was unresolved and later referred to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal in March 2023.

QCAT found that Brisbane City Council failed to accommodate Ms Davies’ health impairments, indirectly discriminating against her under Queensland’s Anti-Discrimination Act.

Presiding over the case, Acting Member Julie Dalling said the council’s insistence on using the standard form was unreasonable given Ms Davies’ circumstances.

“The respondent has failed to demonstrate the reasonableness of the term requiring (Ms Davies) to strictly comply with a time limit,” the ruling stated.

Ms Davies, who lives with multiple medical and mental health impairments, argued that the form-filling requirement and 20 business day timeframe to lodge an internal review, caused significant distress, worsening her symptoms and impacting her mental health.

In her submission to QCAT, Ms Davies said the council’s actions caused “great distress exacerbating her pain and other symptoms”.

“I have a right to seek and receive information, and in particular, this includes a right to access government-held information,” she said in tribunal documents.

“I was not recognised as a disabled/impaired person in the relevant privacy matters, and I believe things were made more unreasonable and difficult, causing me significant distress, including self-harming, as a way to stop me accessing my information from Brisbane City Council.”

The tribunal noted that although Ms Davies eventually completed the form, she did so under considerable duress, which affected her health.

Brisbane City Council defended its use of the approved RTI form, arguing it maintained consistency, reduced confusion, and minimised the need for repeated follow-up calls or emails.

The council claimed that approach ensured a “fair and effective” RTI system for both staff and applicants.

However, QCAT found that the council did not adequately consider Ms Davies’ situation or the impact on her health.

The ruling stated that the council failed to provide reasonable adjustments, such as continuing to accept her applications via email, which had been allowed before a policy change in August 2021.

The tribunal ruled that the council’s actions amounted to indirect discrimination by imposing a requirement that disproportionately affected Ms Davies due to her impairments.

Ms Davies said she had also noted discrepancies between the council’s internal communication and its publicly available RTI policy.

QCAT ordered Brisbane City Council to provide a private written apology to Ms Davies and to pay her $13,847.60 in compensation by January 14.

The amount covered psychiatric sessions, medical treatments, psychology sessions and damages.

Since October 2021, the council has allowed Ms Davies to again submit her applications by email and granted her extensions when requested.

In line with the tribunal’s orders, Brisbane City Council paid the compensation and issued a private apology to Ms Davies on behalf of the council and three staff members named in the proceedings – Mark Pierce, Julie Stevenson and David Simons.

Ms Davies welcomed the ruling, highlighting the importance of public entities considering the needs of people with disabilities when implementing administrative processes.

“I’m happy with the decision and I hope it will bring about effective change within local governments dealing with a disabled member of the community to ensure there is no indirect discrimination,” she said.

“It was highly stressful for me as I represented myself and was up against the council’s barrister and five solicitors – even though the QCAT charter expects all parties to represent themselves.”

Brisbane City Council has not commented on the ruling or whether it had planned to appeal the December decision.

The QCAT order coincided with amendments to Queensland’s anti-discrimination laws through the Respect at Work and Other Matters Amendment Act, which introduced a positive duty on public entities to eliminate discrimination.

Originally published as Brisbane City Council apologises, pays $13k in discrimination case over online forms