Unable to find a place to live, Saoirse has resorted to sleeping in a tent with her assistance dog in training.
The woman in her mid-20s, who asked that her last name be withheld, felt she had no other option after being rejected from more than 30 rental applications in Brisbane within a month.
"I rang up about one place, and it seemed really good," Saoirse said.
"She asked if there were any pets. And I said, 'No, but I have an assistance dog'.
"Then she told me, basically don't bother applying," she said.
She said she now avoids mentioning anything about her assistance dog on rental applications.
"That means I have to go to house inspections by myself and potentially have medical issues," she said.
Saoirse's assistance dog helps her with her various medical conditions, including postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (PoTS), which impacts her heart rate and blood regulation.
"She jumps to tell me when my blood pressure is dropping and the heart rate increasing so that I don't just blackout," Saoirse said.
"She lays either on my chest if I am laying down or on my lap, if I'm sitting, to increase my blood pressure by pushing it back to my heart."
But despite the health benefits, having an assistance dog has made it impossible for her to find a rental.
'Not acceptable'
Dale Reardon and his wife moved to Cairns last year for the tropical climate and lifestyle, but finding a rental was not easy.
"Some of the agents, when I rang and inquired and let them know the guide dog scenario, they said the body corporate just wouldn't approve it," Mr Reardon said.
After almost a month of searching, the Reardons found a rental that approved his guide dog.
"[If] we were having to rent again, I think it would have been extremely difficult," he said.
"The market was nowhere near as tight when we did that as it is now."
Queenslanders with Disability Network CEO Michelle Moss said assistance animals were more than a pet, and allow people with disabilities to live independently.
"It is not acceptable that someone is considered less favourably for having an assistance animal when wanting to rent a property," she said.
In Queensland, people with a guide, hearing or assistance dogs cannot be refused accommodation in places such as houses, flats, hotels, motels, caravans, and camping sites.
But Mr Reardon said there are grey areas in the law.
"We had one rental apartment that simply refused to give an answer as to whether they'd rent to us or approve the dog," he said.
"They obviously knew they couldn't say no, so they didn't want to put it in writing.
"So, they just didn't say either way."
No legal protection in aged care
A new study from researchers at the University of Queensland found assistance animal owners moving into aged care had even fewer legal protections.
"We found that a lot of aged care facilities just don't allow owners to take their assistance animals in with them," lead researcher Amanda Salmon said.
Aged care facilities are not included in the list of accommodation that cannot refuse accommodation for people with guide, hear or assistance dogs in Queensland.
Ms Salmon said the lapse in the law meant people moving into aged care were faced with the decision to give up their assistance animal to stay in the facility.
"It should be that there is less red tape for aged care to just allow them to stay together," she said.
Law Associate Professor from the University of Queensland, Paul Harpur, fears he will be without his guide dog when he reaches aged care.
"At the age of 21, I got my first guide dog, and I have continued to have guide dogs since then," he said.
"When I turn 70, and I want to enter a retirement village, having had assistance animals for that entire period, having that taken away from me would be essentially like losing my eyesight again."
National changes
Queensland Disability Minister Craig Crawford said legislation changes are on the agenda in 2023.
"I think it's a reasonable expectation of people that have a bona fide registered assistance animal, and if they need to go into aged care, then I think it is reasonable to take your animal with you," he said.
"If we don't achieve it through the national work then I would be pretty keen to look at what we need to do in Queensland."
State disability ministers across the country will meet in the coming weeks to discuss creating national consistency in animal assistance laws.
"That is even broadening it from dogs to assistance animals, and it's my hope that that will include the conversation around aged care and other facilities," Mr Crawford said.
'Needs to be called out'
Meanwhile, Mr Crawford said Queensland's current anti-discrimination accommodation laws were "very strong".
"Someone who has a genuine assistance animal covered by the Queensland law, it is not okay to turn them away," he said.
"I think it needs to be called out and if it can't be resolved then and there, it needs to be reported."
Mr Crawford said individuals could face fines of up to $14,000.
But the current laws provide guide dog owners like Dale Reardon little comfort.
"The discrimination laws don't really help you resolve a rental property dispute because they just take so long," he said.
"[Guide dogs] are very well trained. But unfortunately, some places do discriminate."
He said he wants tighter laws where owners do not need to seek approval and only tell the landlord about their guide dog once they have moved in.
