Among the submissions made there appears to be recognition that it will not be profitable for exhibitors to provide captions for deaf and hearing impaired customers. It may or may not be profitable. However profitability in service provision to people with a disability is not the criterion required by the Disability Discrimination Act. The criterion is whether undue hardship will be caused to the service provider. Precedents such as the Telstra case show that a service provider is required to provide a service to people with disabilities even if not profitable provided it is not an undue hardship to do so.
Some submissions mention the provision of hearing loops in cinemas.
It is essential that hearing loops are provided in all cinemas. Although exhibitors appear to recognise this need, progress is too slow. However hearing loops are not a substitute or alternative to captions. All profoundly deaf people and many people with a hearing impairment require captions to be able to enjoy movies. This is about the number of people who will benefit from captioned movies.