Virgin Australia has apologised to a Gold Coast doctor who said she was told to leave the airline's lounge at Melbourne airport because she was allegedly making people "uncomfortable" expressing breast milk to feed her baby.
Elise Turner, an speciality women's health GP, told followers on Instagram she was "furious" after being told by a service manager in Virgin Australia's business lounge that she could not sit in the facility while she expressed milk under her shirt.
Turner said she was told by the manager to instead use the bathroom to express milk instead, in what she described as a "pretty unbelievable" incident.
"I'm beyond furious right now," Turner, a mother of twins, said.
"This is just disgusting. This is 2025, and this is the sort of treatment that lactating mothers are expected to deal with."
In a subsequent post, Turner said she politely told the manager that breastfeeding was protected under federal laws.
"Her reply was that I am making her and other people uncomfortable. And then she put her hand on my arm and asked me to leave," Turner said.
It is illegal to discriminate against a person either directly or indirectly on the grounds of breastfeeding under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984.
In Victoria, breastfeeding discrimination is illegal in the areas of accommodation, clubs, education, employment, goods and services, selling and transferring land, and sport, according to the Australian Breastfeeding Association.
Virgin Australia apologised for "the way this situation was handled".
"It fell short of the high standards of care and customer service our team strives to deliver. We have reached out to our guest today to apologise directly," a spokesperson told SBS News.
SBS News has contacted Turner for comment.
