A Mandurah grandmother battling lung cancer has spoken of her embarrassment and humiliation at a local licensing centre when she was forced to remove the hat she wore to cover hair loss caused by chemotherapy.
Christine McCluskey, who was replacing a lost licence before a family trip interstate, said staff told her she couldn’t have her photograph wearing a head covering.
Mrs McCluskey said there were more than 10 people in the Mandurah Licensing Centre and there was nowhere the photograph could be taken in private.
“My cancer is terminal and I don’t want to be reminded every day,” she said.
“The woman was very polite, but if it was me, I would have gone to see a manager to ask if there was something else we could do.”
It is Department of Transport policy that people cannot wear hats, scarves or head coverings in licence photographs.
However, there is an exemption for religious reasons and Mrs McCluskey was at pains to point out that she believed Muslim women should be able to wear head scarves in licence photographs, but there should also be an exemption for medical reasons.
“This never was an attack on Muslims, they should have the right to cover their head, but I definitely would be pleased if the minister could do something for people like me,” she said.
“There’s different medical reasons why you might not want to take a head scarf off, you may have alopecia, and it doesn’t have to happen.
“You could see every part of my face, it’s not like I was wearing a peaked cap,” she said.
Mandurah MP David Templeman was outraged at the treatment of Mrs McCluskey and wrote to transport minister Dean Nalder demanding an apology.
“The events which led to [Mrs McCluskey] being subjected to a humiliating experience to have her photo taken for her licence are unacceptable,” he said.
“If it is policy of your department to treat cancer sufferers like this then your policy is frankly wrong and lacks any compassion and common decency.”
Transport minister Dean Nalder agreed Mrs McCluskey’s treatment was unacceptable.
“I am concerned with the incident as reported,” he said.
“I have immediately asked for a review of the incident and a review of the department’s policy.
“It is important we have a way of showing care and concern within our community and be sensitive to people's dignity in these circumstances.”