Raising awareness on discrimination guide dog handlers face

April 28 marks International Guide Dog Day and the state's organisation is dedicating the month to draw attention to the Guide Dogs and Hearing Dogs Act 1967, which legally gives handlers full public access rights to restaurants, taxis, ride shares and more.

Mr Whyte is legally blind and has been a guide dog handler for about 12 years, something he said had had a huge impact on his life.

"Having a guide dog gives me freedom and independence to be able to get around a lot faster. The dog does the heavy lifting for you and they're also a companion, and probably most importantly, open you up to the community," he said.

"Unfortunately there was an incident a couple of months ago which upset me. A taxi pulled up, said 'no dog' and then drove off and I felt really frustrated because I couldn't even go to diplomacy and say look mate this guide dog is legally allowed."

He said it was frustrating because he normally could discuss the matter and was happy to educate the community on guide dogs.

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Guide Dog Services Tasmania program manager Kim Ryan said guide dogs in harness or guide dogs in training wearing an orange training cost, were legally allowed to go everywhere their handler did.

"Guide dogs are working animals trained to help people who are blind or have low vision navigate their world safely, and independently," she said.

"From eight weeks of age, the dogs in our training program are socialised in public areas. They are quiet, well-behaved, non-aggressive and well-groomed."

The organisation is the only one in the state to raise and train puppies, with instructors providing ongoing support and aftercare.

It costs more than $50,000 to raise and train one of the dogs and the organisation depends on community support.

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