Court to decide if Tasmanian supermarket discriminated by not allowing alpaca in store
Abbygail-Nigella Borst and Desmond Gaull lodged a complaint with Tasmania's Office of the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner (ADC) alleging discrimination after the pair entered the Orford IGA Everyday supermarket with Violet the alpaca in December 2023.
They were asked to leave the store because Violet was considered to be livestock and not permitted inside.
Violet has received attention online after being spotted at public places all around Tasmania including the Hobart Airport, major supermarkets, an RSL and even boat cruises on the River Derwent and Gordon River.
Ms Borst and Mr Gaull post videos on YouTube of Violet wearing an assistance animal coat and entering venues, usually met with intrigue from members of the public.
The pair's complaint to the ADC was referred to the Tasmanian Civil and Administration Tribunal (TASCAT), which has published its decision.
In his decision, TASCAT senior member Robert Winter said Ms Borst and Mr Gaull's complaint was based on "direct, indirect discrimination and offensive, humiliating, intimidating, insulting or ridiculing conduct by the supermarket, and discrimination on the basis of association with a person who has a disability".
The complaint lodged is based on federal law, the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, and the supermarket's defence used the state's Food Act and federal food standard legislation.
Mr Winter decided to transfer the complaint to the Magistrates Court, stating that the matter proceeding through the tribunal was not the best course of action.
Ms Borst has previously told the ABC that Violet "goes everywhere" with her and is the fourth alpaca she has trained to be a service animal.
She said Violet was house trained and she "can't live without her".
"She helps me in public with people and she lets my carer know about when I am going to have an attack," Ms Borst said.
Violet has been filmed going through Hobart Airport security and also at baggage collection.
On his YouTube channel, Mr Gaull said the pair live on a 50-acre farm with alpacas, which help Ms Borst "more so than any other service animal" with post-traumatic stress disorder.
"So we take alpacas out and train them to be a therapy animal," the description states.
Tasmania is the only Australian state or territory that does not classify what "assistance animals" are, with state law only recognising seeing or hearing dogs.
Assistance animals offer highly trained disability support services to people who rely on them to participate in personal and public life with greater independence and confidence.
In Australia, they are considered working animals — along with seeing and hearing dogs — and are covered under the 1992 Disability Discrimination Act, meaning they have full access to public facilities.
That's not to be confused with emotional support animals, or companion animals, which are not recognised as service animals under disability laws and are considered pets.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
25 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
‘Cut off his access': AFP veteran David Craig outlines how to target exiled illicit tobacco kingpin Kazem Hamad
A law enforcement veteran has outlined what Australian authorities can do to go after exiled crime boss Kamez Hamad. Hamad is widely reported to control the majority of Victoria's illicit tobacco trade, with experts estimating his profits to be in the billions – well above the wealth accumulated by the likes of Carl Williams and Tony Mokbel. In a series of articles published on Monday, the Herald Sun revealed the luxury Middle Eastern lifestyle of the crime boss, with trips to idyllic beach destinations like Bodrum in Turkey. According to Deakin University criminologist James Martin, Hamad likely makes an 'extraordinary' amount of money from the illicit tobacco trade. 'Whichever way you look at the numbers, if he controls the majority of the illicit trade – and that market is worth billions of dollars – he is making an extraordinary amount of money,' he said. Speaking to Sky News Australia on Monday, former Australian Federal Police detective superintendent David Craig said Hamad had managed to remain in control of his organisation despite being deported to Iraq in 2023 following a prison sentence for heroin trafficking. Asked how Hamad managed to get his profits out of the country, Mr Craig said while international organised crime still used cash couriers who were 'willing to carry large amounts of cash on assignment on a percentage basis', this method would not work for the amount of money Hamad was accruing. 'I would expect that he's diversified his money laundering efforts and that would be one method he would rely upon,' he said. 'The other is the traditional Middle Eastern Hawala banking system, where money isn't actually transferred across international lines, so it stays below the radar of the monitoring of the local governments. 'What I highly suspect is occurring in this case is cryptocurrency – mass crypto being transferred into his wallet or wallets of his associates in the Middle East, directly from Australia. It's very, very hard to police that.' While stating Australia does have extradition treaties with the UAE and Turkey – where Hamad has reportedly spent time - Mr Craig said attempting to extradite him might not be the best use of law enforcement resources. 'The question in my mind would be, do we want to actually bring this person back to our justice system again so then we can deport him again, or do we spend those resources to cut off his access to the illegal gains coming out of Australia,' he said. 'And the people that are working for him in Australia, if they can be deported, let's move them on as well.' The law enforcement veteran also said the Australian government was ignoring a major tool to go after the illicit tobacco trade. 'Australia is actually a signatory to the… prevention of illicit Tobacco Goods Act,' he said. 'We signed that in 2013 and came into power two years ago in September 2023… the main thrust of that agreement is to have a track and trace system so that tobacco products could be tracked from manufacture to point of sale. 'That allows law enforcement multiple access points that allows us to monitor the illegal bleed between illegal markets and legal markets. It allows us to not just guess what's happening in the marketplace, but to proactively plan interventions to stop this. 'Now this government has done nothing to actually start this. It's in law. They have it in the UK, they have it in Europe and a number of other countries. Australia simply hasn't done that.' According to Mr Martin, the size of Australia's illicit tobacco market was directly linked to government policies designed to reduce smoking rates. 'If you overtax a product, like we've seen with tobacco, then it doesn't make sense to purchase it legally, so it will drive demand to black market substitutes and that provides opportunities for organised crime and that's what has happened here in Australia.' He said in order to combat the issue, the tax on legal cigarettes and vapes needed to come down and enforcement ramped up. 'It's an issue of resourcing and if these people are making billions of dollars and we are only funding our law enforcement agencies $300m then who's got the resources to win a fight like that,' Mr Martin said. Mr Craig said the penalties associated with trafficking in illicit tobacco were significantly less than with illicit drugs while the profits were higher. 'Why wouldn't you go to a softer market, which is exactly what these people are doing, going to illicit market of tobacco,' he said.
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Record fine leaves Qantas with unwanted brand baggage
Qantas stands accused of betraying Australian values and undermining its reputation by illegally sacking baggage handlers. Experts warn the airline, which markets itself as the "Spirit of Australia", risks losing its place in the national psyche as a result of its recent indiscretions. Qantas was on Monday fined a record $90 million for outsourcing 1820 ground staff roles, a move the Federal Court ruled was designed to curb union bargaining power in wage negotiations. It added to a $100 million fine it received for selling tickets to flights that were already cancelled between 2021 and 2023, against the backdrop of executives pocketing seven-figure bonuses. Trading on being the "Spirit of Australia" could mean the flag carrier might be held to "exceptional, indeed unique" standards, Justice Michael Lee noted as he delivered the fine. RMIT associate professor of finance Angel Zhong agreed, saying the positioning invited scrutiny of the airline's ethics, not only its performance. "Illegally sacking workers is seen as a betrayal of the very values Qantas claims to represent: fairness, mateship and respect," she told AAP. "If Qantas is the 'Spirit of Australia', then the public expects it to act with a conscience, not just a balance sheet." Illegally sacked Qantas employee Don Dixon said the company meant everything to Australians, but needed to behave with that in mind. "It's an Australian company. You go overseas and see that red kangaroo, you know 'that's my country and I'm going home, I feel safe' ... that's been lost," he told AAP. The embattled airline unsuccessfully appealed against the decision to the High Court, paving the way for the penalty to be awarded. Justice Lee ordered Qantas to pay $90 million in penalties, with $50 million to be paid to the union that brought the proceedings and highlighted the illegal conduct. He cited the "sheer scale of the contraventions, being the largest of their type" as a reason to impose a penalty that would deter other businesses from similar conduct. Qantas will have to pay the hefty bill on top of a $120 million compensation payment it has made to the affected ground staff for their economic loss, pain and suffering following the outsourcing. Public frustration and disappointment with Qantas might have increased, Assoc Prof Zhong said, but it wouldn't necessarily change consumer behaviour with price, route availability and loyalty programs outweighing ethical concerns. "That said, sustained reputational damage can have long-term effects," she said. "If trust continues to decline, Qantas risks losing not just customers, but its privileged position in the national psyche."
AU Financial Review
9 hours ago
- AU Financial Review
Fraud claim rocks Smorgon gold mine deal
Companies controlled by the powerful Victor Smorgon Group have been accused of running a dishonest and fraudulent scheme to invalidly acquire a stake in an Australian gold mine at a below-market price. The allegations, which have been strongly denied, were filed in the Federal Court by the Smorgon group's Chinese partners in the Stawell Gold Mine, and reveal a bitter battle for control of the Victorian project at a time of record high gold prices.
