Is UniMelb disability friendly?

For the past two weeks I have been on crutches, and it has forced me to consider whether getting around UniMelb is easy for physically disabled people.

The short answer is: no.

After the first Monday of hobbling back and forth across campus to classes and study areas, I realised that I very rarely see other people on crutches or in wheelchairs. As I walked into my lecture in the Sunderland Theatre, I realised that people with wheelchairs have no where to sit. By the end of the day, I had noticed that there are not many ramps at all – in fact, there is only one ramp to South Lawn.

While I have a wheelchair and crutches at home, I quickly realised that a wheelchair was not an option at Uni and that crutches also made stairs very inconvenient. Moving up and down stairs can be difficult already, let alone when trying to go down stairs, overstepping your crutches and falling over. It was humiliating. I also had to learn that floors are not your friend. Walking into Union House, I had a massive fright when the crutches slipped from under me.

At church on Sunday, I was speaking to two lovely ladies who are currently staying at a college, and they revealed that five people at their college are currently on crutches! While I am aware that there are many people at Uni, I was convinced for several days that all other crutches-users were hibernating in their rooms, not attending tutorials or lectures. But then I found a comrade in MSD and we smiled at each other, knowing that someone else was struggling as well.

I would strongly suggest looking after your legs…