"Doctor furious after being kicked out of Virgin airport lounge for pumping breast milk ", 16 September 2025

A breastfeeding mother of twins was furious after being asked to leave a Virgin airport business lounge because she was pumping breast milk.

Dr Elise Turner said she was in the lounge at Melbourne Airport on Tuesday, expressing breast milk using a pump underneath her T-shirt when she was asked to stop. [...]

The GP said she tried to tell the staff member that it was her legal right to pump milk and breastfeeding is protected under the Sex Discrimination Act. [...]

Turner said the woman put a hand on her arm and asked her to leave the lounge.

A spokeswoman for Virgin Australia apologised on behalf of the airline.

“We are sorry for the way this situation was handled,” she said. “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 spokeswoman for Melbourne Airport said there were no restrictions on women breastfeeding or pumping milk in the airport.

“We’re an airport where everyone should feel welcome,” she said. “We have several parenting rooms across our terminals with comfortable spaces for breastfeeding – including chairs and microwaves – and for changing nappies.”