Supermarket turns down the volume

One of Geraldton’s big supermarkets will offer a “quiet” customer experience for an hour every Tuesday, to better support people with disabilities.

Between 10.30-11.30am on that day, Woolworths Geraldton will dim lights, turn down music, switch off buzzers and not make PA announcements.

“Quiet Hour” is designed to provide a better shopping experience for people disturbed or bothered by sensory stress, including people in the autism spectrum.

Louise Robertson, from disability support organisation Activ Geraldton, and Dr Paul Royce, from the Geraldton branch of Christian charity Mission Australia, welcomed the move, saying it would help people with sensory issues to participate more broadly in the community.

Ms Robertson said she hoped other organisations would follow suit.

Woolworths Geraldton is the first of the company stores in the Mid West, and one of 20 in WA and more than 260 stores across Australia, to adopt Quiet Hour.