TWO more wheelchair-accessible toilets in Port Macquarie will soon be fitted with the Master Locksmith Access Key (MLAK) system in a bid to reduce vandalism.
Port Macquarie-Hastings Council has advised that the toilets at the Glasshouse and at McInherney Park will soon be fitted with the new system.
A number of other facilities across the LGA – including the accessible toilets at Town Beach, Wauchope CWA and Laurieton School of Arts – are already fitted with the MLAK system.
MLAK is a universal key which is being used to access an increasing number of wheelchair accessible toilet facilities across Australia and New Zealand.
Anyone with a disability, or who cares for someone with a disability, can apply for an MLAK by filling in a form which is available from council offices or by obtaining a letter from their GP.
The applicant can then use the letter of approval to purchase the MLAK from a Master Locksmith a cost of approximately $8.
The same key can be used to access any facilities operating on the MLAK system throughout Australia and New Zealand.
Staff at the Glasshouse and volunteers at the Marine Rescue kiosk at Town Beach will keep an MLAK behind the counter for anyone who needs to use the wheelchair accessible toilet and who is yet to obtain their own key.
Toilets fitted with the system display the blue and white wheelchair symbol as well as the text ‘MLAK’.
Besides council toilet facilities, the key system is also being fitted to some lifts at railway stations, wheelchair accessible toilets in national parks and in adaptive playground equipment across Australia.
