Solutions are being worked on by Griffith City Council to better inform community members and visitors of the process needed to access the public disabled bathrooms in the city.
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The public disabled bathrooms along Banna Avenue are locked 24 hours a day as part of the Master Locksmith Access Key (MLAK) system, with those who need to use the bathroom requiring the purchase of a key from the Griffith Visitors Information Centre.
The key allows users to access a wide range of public disabled bathrooms across the state but the systems usage is operated on a council-by-council basis.
Councillor Mike Neville said council's Disability Inclusion and Access Committee have been made aware of complaints about the bathrooms and despite describing the issue as a "storm in a teacup", he said solutions are being worked on to better inform visitors and locals of the system in place.
"It's an important issue being raised and it hasn't fallen on deaf ears," Cr Neville said.
"Now council is aware and the committee is aware, no doubt it will be addressed in some format."
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Cr Neville said signage detailing the accessibility of disabled bathrooms were formerly in place in CWA Park, but new signage will take time to implement and noted no matter how much awareness council can raise, there can still be cases of people not knowing about the system or where to access bathrooms in the city.
"Staff are in the process of addressing the issue," Cr Neville said.
"A lot of this signage needs time to be prepared.
"The issue itself will never go away."
However, Cr Neville rejected the idea council had been slow in improving the level of disability access in the city and said a wide range of considerations need to be taken into account by council.
"Access is not just for people in wheelchairs," Cr Neville said.
"People saying it's a bit slow, that's sometimes from a personal or business perspective... council unfortunately has to look at the entire picture."
He said community members and visitors who require access to disabled bathrooms can also visit the Art Gallery, Griffith City Library, the Visitors Information Centre and Council Chambers.
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