Annette Pham will no longer have to change her 12-year-old son Liam’s nappy on a dirty public toilet floor, with plans in the pipeline to build a lift and change bathroom facility at Mollymook.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
“When I ask if change facilities are available for Liam people point to the disabled toilet expecting me to lay him on a dirty floor or use a baby change table suitable for a baby and not a 12 year old boy,” Mrs Pham said.
“Imagine the disgust of people if you told a mother with a new baby to change her baby on the toilet floor.
“Well this is what I am expected to do with Liam.”
Mrs Pham said the amenity would include a hoist and shower and was included in plans for a new $180,000 all-access playground in the Mollymook Beach Reserve.
She said it would provide a much-needed facility in the region.
“Unless you know someone who is profoundly disabled like Liam it would not dawn on you that toileting and changing facilities are not available to disabled people,” she said.
“Our big problem is when we go out into the community there is no change facility or toilet to change Liam’s nappy.
“I have three choices currently, leave Liam sit in his own urine and faeces till we get home, change him in public on a park bench or put him on the urine stained, dirty floor of the disabled toilet.”
Mrs Phams said work was set to commence on the project in June, with completion expected by the end of the year.
Liam attends Ulladulla’s Budawang School and his fellow students joined State Minister for Disability Services John Ajaka, Member for South Coast Shelley Hancock and Shoalhaven Mayor Joanna Gash to turn the first sod on the project on Monday.
Mrs Hancock said life and change facilities were larger than a standard accessible facility, and included extra features and more space to meet the needs of people with disability and their carers.
“As a community, we saw there was a need for these facilities to make our community more inclusive and accessible,” Mrs Hancock said.
“I am so pleased the NSW Government and Shoalhaven Council have worked together to deliver this important community facility, which will benefit the lives of people with disability, their families and carers.”
Mr Ajaka said the State Government was determined to help people with disability live life their way.
“Everyone should be able to enjoy everything our beautiful state has to offer,” he said.
Mrs Pham started working on the provision of changing places in 2014 when launched a petition on change.org to amend the building code of Australia so all members of the community especially those with a profound disability have access to suitable change and toileting facilities.
She said 43,000 people signed the petition.
“When I started this campaign there was 16,000 public toilets across Australia and of these only six were suitable to meet the toileting and changing needs of the profoundly disabled person,” she added.
Since her campaign took off, changing place facilities have been installed in the Nowra Aquatic Centre, Vincentia Market and Stockland Nowra.
Amenities will also be built in the Lions Park at Burrill Lake.
