A woman with multiple sclerosis was forced to get out of her power wheelchair and carried on stage to speak at a disability conference . Speaker Deborah Haygarth was hoisted out of her chair and escorted by two people up the four stairs between the floor and the raised stage . Disability rights advocate Jax-Jacki Brown was at the National Disability Summit at Melbourne 's Sheraton Hotel last Thursday and was outraged by the oversight . Speaker Deborah Haygarth , who has multiple sclerosis , was forced to get out of her wheelchair and carried by two people on and off the stage . ' I thought 'They 're going to pull out a ramp , they obviously planned for this ' , ' she told Daily Mail Australia . 'No ramp was forthcoming so the next best thing is they are going to move the table and microphone so she can sit with everyone else , but they did n't do that . 'They suggested she move out of her chair and be carried on by two people . ' Ms Brown - who is a wheelchair-user herself - said it was degrading to see a person in a wheelchair be treated like that . 'It just removes your agency and your power to move around the world , ' she said . 'It makes you dependent on someone to give assistance . To add further insult , chairs were stacked inside the disabled toilets , preventing people from using it . 'It 's not the way you want to be able to be seen . It 's not an empowering way to enter a stage . ' To add further insult , the disabled toilet at the venue had been stacked up with chairs , preventing people in wheelchairs who had to go to the bathroom from using it . Ms Brown said disabled toilets were often seen as secondary storage spaces . 'To use a toilet is quite crucial and a fundamental right that non-disabled people take for granted , ' she said . 'It speaks volumes about the space the National Disability Summit was held in . ' I mean we do n't even have the right to pee . ' Susan Ryan , who is the disability discrimination commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission , said she had written to the organisers of the summit . Disability rights advocate Jax-Jacki Brown was at the National Disability Summit in Melbourne and said it was a degrading sight to see . The Sheraton Hotel in Melbourne has apologised for the incident , saying they 'fell short ' of delivering all their duties , and vowed a similar incident would not reoccur . 'On behalf of Sheraton Melbourne Hotel , I would like to apologise for the incident that took place at the National Disability Summit . We fell short of delivering all of the necessary requirements and this is disappointing , ' Hal Philp , General Manager at Sheraton Melbourne Hotel said . 'At Sheraton Melbourne Hotel , the comfort and safety of our guests is of paramount importance to us . Whilst these are isolated incidents , it is nonetheless a lesson learnt . 'We will ensure every effort is made to further improve the accessibility in our hotel premises , so that such incidents do not re-occur , ' Mr Philip added . But this is not the first controversy the National Disability Summit has attracted . This year , only seven people with a disability were allowed to attend the two-day conference , causing a social media outrage . Daily Mail Australia has contacted the organisers and Sheraton Hotel for comment on the matter .
Speaker Deborah Haygarth was speaking at the National Disability Summit . She was forced to get out of wheelchair and carried by two people on stage . Disability rights advocate Jax-Jacki Brown was at Melbourne conference . Ms Haygarth said it was degrading to see Ms Brown treated in that matter . Additionally , the disabled toilet at the venue was stacked full of chairs .