An Indigenous cultural capability specialist has called for Qantas' Reconciliation Action Plan accreditation to be revoked after their response to her claims of discrimination.
Mundanara Bayles and her family were approached by a Qantas staff member questioning their place in the priority boarding line for their flight out of Brisbane on November 26 and she called out the conduct.
"Being Aboriginal, the assumption (is) that we couldn't possibly be in Business or have a Platinum or Gold frequent flyer membership," Ms Bayles wrote on LinkedIn after the incident.
As managing director of cultural competency trainers BlackCard, it was the kind of conduct her business works to eliminate.
Qantas reached out to Ms Bayles, but as sit-downs with the chief executive of Qantas subsidiary Jetstar, Stephanie Tully, failed to materialise, she made her frustrations known.
"My two meetings that I was happy to do have been cancelled/postponed with Stephanie Tully so this morning I made a decision to now take this to the next level and give people an update here on Linkedin and now call for Reconciliation Australia to REVOKE Qantas ELEVATE RAP," Ms Bayles wrote on LinkedIn.
Ms Tully responded to the post shortly after it went up.
"Mundanara, with fairness, we have not had a meeting set up as yet so nothing has been cancelled and I am trying to do this with urgency," she said.
"I have just emailed your assistant again with all the options. I look forward to discussing."
Ms Bayles conceded she missed a phone call from Ms Tully in the days following her post, but noted that no voicemail or follow-up text was left.
Any scheduling of a meeting has been interrupted by Sorry Business commitments after the loss of a loved one by Ms Bayles.
She believes she will sit down with Ms Tully next week.
"I want to know, do they have an anti-racism policy or a racial discrimination policy? Have they evaluated the cultural capability of the organisation, not individuals?" she said.
"Have they ever done an evaluation of their cultural capabilities as an organisation as an Elevate RAP partner? That's the key point."
Ms Bayles said those questions are yet to be answered.
Qantas confirmed their intention to hold a meeting with Ms Bayles alongside their commitment to reconciliation initiatives.
"Our investigation is ongoing and any review of our policies/procedures will follow that," a spokesperson said.
After recent footage of Qantas flight baggage handlers brought swift action from the company, the response to her concerns came as a disappointment to Ms Bayles and she wants Reconciliation Australia to come to discuss the future of the airlines' RAP partnership.
"This problem is not going to go away," she said.
Reconciliation Australia told National Indigenous Times a RAP partnership "comes with responsibilities".
"As such RA has spoken with Qantas and urged them to respond promptly to Mandanara Bayles' complaints and address them in an respectful and appropriate manner," the organisation said in a statement.
