‘Can’t get in the front door’: Adelaide advocate blasts Disability Minister Mark Butler’s office as inaccessible

A disability advocate who lodged a human rights complaint after being unable to access the electorate office of Australia’s health and disability minister has returned a year later — only to find little has changed.

Shane Hryhorec, an Adelaide‑based wheelchair user with C5 incomplete quadriplegia, visited Mark Butler’s Port Adelaide office last year and reported the front entrance was only accessible by stairs.

A doorbell used to alert staff that wheelchair access — which is via a delivery door — was required was broken.

Hryhorec lodged a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission and called for a review of all public buildings to ensure they are accessible.

A year later, he returned to Butler’s office to find the issue remains unresolved.

Hryhorec previously lodged a complaint against Virgin Airlines after he was wrongly removed from a flight for carrying a battery‑powered mobility aid.

And Adelaide Airport apologised when he was not allowed to be picked up from its designated disability zone.

Butler’s office had early indicated discussions were underway to secure a more accessible location but the move has not yet been made.

“I have been requesting the Department of Finance find a more suitable accessible office since 2022,” Butler said in a statement.

“This delay has been completely unacceptable and I am beyond frustrated with their inaction. I know this is simply not good enough.

“The Department of Finance has finally secured a new electorate office. Renovations are currently being completed.

“He hasn’t gone anywhere and people with disabilities still can’t get in through the front door,” he said.

“I want people with disabilities to have the same experience as everyone else — to be able to roll in through the front door to meet an elected official.

“Hopefully next time I visit Mark Butler I can enter his office through the front door.”