NDIA CEO Rebecca Falkingham was left confused by her own media department’s decision not to comment on matters around Coles’ new security gates, yet has since failed to provide a statement of her own. Photo: NDIA.
The CEO of the government agency that administers the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has questioned why her own department refused to contribute to a viral Region article criticising the automatic gates installed at Coles supermarkets and the impact they may have on people with a disability.
On 27 February, this journalist authored an article highlighting NDIS participants’ concerns about the “triggering” impact of Coles gates that can lock customers into the self-checkout area if the supermarket’s ‘smart’ technology determines they haven’t scanned all their grocery items. This article has been viewed more than 150,000 times across Region‘s platforms.
Before publishing the piece, Region contacted the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), the government department that administers the NDIS, for its view on the gates and their impact on NDIS clients.
However, the NDIA refused to respond, a stance we called “pathetic”.
Following publication, on Tuesday (11 March), NDIA CEO Rebecca Falkingham sent an email to this author directly.
“I have just read your piece on the Coles gates and their impact on people with disability,” she said.
“I was unaware you had contacted the NDIA. The NDIA administers the NDIS. I can’t find/work out who you contacted, so do you mind letting me know as it would be very unlike the NDIA not to respond to questions, and I will follow up.”
Region re-sent its questions to Ms Falkingham and her communications team, asking if the NDIA had any concerns about the gates and their impact on its clients, giving them a second chance to contribute to an article.
By Thursdsay (13 March), the NDIA still hadn’t responded, so again the questions were resent with a request for a response by 2 pm that day.
An NDIA communications spokesman then rang Region Riverina’s editor to complain about the emails, saying the NDIA had made it clear last week it was not going to comment on this issue. He appeared to be unaware that his own CEO had since contacted this writer directly to question why her agency didn’t respond.
As of writing (Friday 14 March) neither Ms Falkingham, nor the NDIA communications team had provided a response.
In our first article, we chronicled the views of three NDIS clients who had concerns about the gates.
“I went into the store; I was looking for a Coke and they weren’t cold so I wanted to leave. I walked through the self-checkouts and was blocked by these doors,” said Annette, a regular Coles shopper who didn’t want to share her surname.
“I have complex PTSD and really struggle with confined spaces, so when this machine didn’t open, everyone was looking at me and it wouldn’t let me out. It turned a quick trip to buy a Coke into a nightmare.”
A Region poll of more than 6000 readers found that 57 per cent of respondents said the gates made shopping more stressful. Only 19 per cent of respondents supported the concept.
Coles, however, has defended its security measure aimed at preventing theft.
“These gates are designed to open automatically for customers after they have completed their shop at the checkout. While the gates don’t automatically open if a customer doesn’t make a purchase, we have team members in the checkout area who can manually open the gates for people who were just browsing,” a spokesperson said.
Supermarket self-checkouts. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
“In regards to the gates being triggering for people, we have carried out extensive reviews specifically focused on Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) compliance – and our smart gates fulfil all requirements to ensure accessibility for all customers, including those with disabilities.
“The new smart gate technology is designed and tested to global and Australian standards. The technology has sensors and inbuilt detectors to ensure the gates open for customers after their transaction is completed, and our team are always available to manually open the gates for any customers who were just browsing.
“Safety is always our priority, and we take all concerns seriously – we encourage customers to share their feedback with us directly so we can investigate and work with the team on how we can improve their experience in our stores.”
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