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A popular Hobart cinema has pulled its voluntary scheme offering carers of people with disabilities free tickets because of a complaint lodged with the state's equal opportunity watchdog.
The State Cinema in North Hobart admitted carers to daytime movie sessions on Monday to Friday without charge.
The arrangement was an informal version of the Companion Card scheme, cinema owner John Kelly told ABC Radio Hobart.
"We don't have to do it, it is all done out of the goodness of our hearts," he said.
"We are not actually a signed up participant of the Companion Card system, to do that you have to sign up to do it all the time."
On weekends, the cinema reverted back to the usual ticket pricing.
"We use the same criteria for a carer, we apply the that same system for what we do at a local level in a small business situation, where during weekdays we can afford to do that with our small auditorium."
Mr Kelly said it was the "peak times when we are busy and consistently selling out that enables us to fund this free admission for carers".
"That has been working beautifully for many years."
However, Mr Kelly said he had withdrawn the free admission for carers arrangement after a recent incident during weekend screenings.
"A person who had a carer arrived to see a film on a weekend, we said sorry, for these reasons we don't participate with the weekends, they then went to Equal Opportunity Tasmania (EOT) and lodged a complaint."
Mr Kelly said following the complaint being lodged, he had "been taken in to the anti-discrimination office, delivered reams of paper, been advised my conduct may be offensive humiliating, insulting or ridiculing" to which he had been "asked to give responses".
He said EOT had written to him, referring him to the following Tasmanian Government information:
"Historically, a person with disability who required a companion carer to participate in community events had been asked to pay for two admissions - one for themselves and one for their companion. This has the effect of doubling the cost for that person to participate and is a discriminating practice under Tasmanian and Commonwealth disability anti-discrimination legislation."
Mr Kelly said EOT was setting an "incredible precedent" and alleged small to medium businesses like his were "soft targets".
"It is about statistics, just get on to their 113-page report about what they do with their 10 staff, 13 tribunal members, it is an incredibly overstaffed over complicated bureaucracy," he said.
Mr Kelly conceded EOT "does some good work" but said "people like me in small business, we are soft targets and a lot of the time it is having to pay shut up money to get our way out of it".
He said the latest complaint was "the fifth in five years, the last (case) went three-and-a-half years".
"I thought 'this is just the thin edge of the wedge'."
"This is why Wrest Point (casino, Hobart) don't participate in the Companion Card system, it is too complicated," he said.
Asked why the State Cinema shouldn't simply offer carers free tickets all the time, Mr Kelly said if that was the law, he would do so.
"If that was the legislation, I would do that and be bound by that and agree with that, but this would bring the whole economy down in the entertainment and hospitality business."
In a statement to the ABC, EOT said it was the State Cinema's practice of allowing carer's free admission during some sessions and not others it had been asked to investigate.
EOT said it had invited the State Cinema to respond to the complaint and said "the complaint would not disclose discrimination if the practice was shown to be reasonable, or if it would cause the State Cinema an unjustifiable hardship".
"There is nothing under the Act preventing the State Cinema from continuing to offer free admission for companion carers during weekdays."
Topics: disabilities, law-crime-and-justice, arts-and-entertainment, north-hobart-7000
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