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An incident in which a mother was told to leave the Bendigo Marketplace food court for breastfeeding her child has spurred the shopping centre to upgrade its parents’ rooms. 

Refurbishment of the centre’s facilities is expected to be finished in coming weeks, five months after 22-year-old Luci White and her son, Zaydd, were scorned by a Marketplace worker for feeding in public. 

The parents’ rooms had been fitted with new flooring, tiles, basins, wall paper, a microwave and furniture, a statement from the Marketplace said. 

A second feeding room has been built in the centre’s south wing, along with a play area for toddlers.

“We want every person who walks through our doors to feel welcome and comfortable,” Marketplace spokeswoman Danielle Downs said. 

The Australian Breastfeeding Association have welcomed the shopping centre’s upgrades, awarding its parents’ rooms five-star accreditation. 

The ABA’s website lists several essential criteria for a “babycare room" to given accreditation. These include: 

ABA Bendigo group leader and breastfeeding counsellor Karen Lunney welcomed the changes to the facility that, at the time of Ms White’s public reprimand, were described unfavourably by several mothers. 

One of its critics was Michelle Van Zyl, the woman who organised February’s Boobs for Babies protest in the Marketplace’s food court.

The sit-in saw about 200 women, partners and children occupy the place from where Ms White had been banished.

Ms Van Zyl said she was proud her initiative had enacted change for parents needing a private place to breastfeed. 

”Even for mums who have to pump as well, to have to express feed, it'd be great to have somewhere they won’t be stared at,” she said.

She said there were still too few places catering to the needs of parents and babies, saying attention should now turn to babycare facilities in suburbs outside Bendigo, including Kangaroo Flat.

“There’s places in the centre of town, but you're not always in the centre of town.” 

The Marketplace had also made moves to make public breastfeeding welcome, with stickers reading “breastfeeding welcome here” displayed throughout the centre. 

Under the federal Sex Discrimination Act 1984 it is illegal to discriminate against a person either directly or indirectly on the grounds of breastfeeding. 

“For example, it is discriminatory for a waiter to decline to serve a patron who is breastfeeding,” the website said. 

It also said mothers should feel confident stating their legal right to anyone who scolds them for breastfeeding.