How ACT's most prominent buildings are out of reach for some Canberrans

The Canberra resident has been in a wheelchair for the past three months following complications from surgery, and said accessibility around the national capital is a challenge at the best of times.

"I get around, but with great difficulty. I have to go to the health centre three times a week to get my dressings changed, and it's a struggle getting up from the gutter to the pavement," she said.

"I just don't go to some places any more because the access is so bad."

Mrs Wright said while many large buildings and large events such as Floriade around Canberra are often inaccessible to people in wheelchairs, it's many of the footpaths that provide the largest challenges.

"There's been a number of times that I've nearly fallen out of my chair," she said.

"My husband has to often push me on the roads because the footpath is so bad."

Issues surrounding disability access in Canberra are also being faced up on Parliament House, following the election of new Greens senator Jordon Steele-John.

The 23-year-old, who uses a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy, said while the parts of federal parliament open to the public are easily accessible, those behind closed doors are not.

"It's the most pre-eminent building in Canberra, and while the public areas are accessible, nobody thought that one day in the future there might be staffers or MPs or ministers that might have a disability," he said.

"A number of the doorways here have been quite challenging to get through because they're not wide enough, and the areas are fully fitted out with some of the most plush carpet at the time, but pushing a wheelchair through that is like pushing it through treacle."

The newly-appointed senator is the first member of the upper house with a disability, with adjustments already being made to offices.

Desks are being modified to be slightly higher to accommodate for his wheelchair, as well as making the bathrooms more accessible.

Mrs Wright said more consultation should be carried out with members of the community with disbailities in order to improve accessibility across Canberra.

"People in wheelchairs are often overlooked and [those making planning decisions] should get in a wheelchair themselves and see what it is like," she said.

A spokeswoman for the ACT government said public buildings across Canberra have been brought into compliance as part of the disability discrimination act.

"ACT building plans approved since 2011 have been required to comply with building standards prescribed under the act," the spokeswoman said.