Disability summit fails disabled speaker

A disabled speaker had to be lifted from her wheelchair onto the stage before she spoke at the National Disability Summit in Melbourne.

Disability activist Jacki Brown, who attended the summit organised by a private provider, said it was appalling to see the speaker wheel herself to the stage where there were four steps and no ramp.

"She was carried on stage by two people," Ms Brown said in her online blog.

"Why was there no ramp access at a disability summit?"

Ms Brown, a wheelchair user herself, said the experience showed there was a long way to go.

Others took to social media to blast the event, outraged there was no ramp to the stage and angry only 12 concession tickets had been made available to participants with disabilities.

Disability discrimination commissioner Susan Ryan took to Twitter to confirm she was investigating.

"We have written to the conference organisers regarding the accessibility issues," she tweeted.