An 84-year-old woman is calling for airports to change how they treat elderly passengers and those with a disability at security gates, after her handbag was stolen while she was taken away to be frisked by security staff.

Helen Sweetnam's pacemaker set off an alarm as she was going through Melbourne Airport security gates last month to catch a flight to Mt Gambier to see her daughter.

Ms Sweetnam, who had placed her handbag on a conveyor belt, was taken aside while she waited for a female security officer to pat her down.

When she was eventually allowed to return to the conveyor belt, Ms Sweetnam discovered her handbag was missing.

"I was feeling sick with shock," Ms Sweetnam told ABC Radio Melbourne.

"I immediately said to them my bag was missing."

Ms Sweetnam said airport security used CCTV to track down the female bag snatcher in the airport terminal.

"She told the security she'd picked up the bag by mistake," Ms Sweetnam said.

The handbag was returned to its rightful owner, but its contents had been stolen, including about $630 in cash, a mobile phone, and a wallet containing a credit card and medical records.

Ms Sweetnam believes Melbourne Airport should take responsibility for the theft.

"If I'm forced to put my stuff on that [conveyor belt] and then I'm moved away from it then it has to be their responsibility to take care of my stuff," she said.

She said Melbourne Airport had dismissed her concerns.

"I think it's bloody rude," Ms Sweetnam said.

"There's been no response, and I feel that I'm just being treated like, 'if we don't respond she'll go away'."

'It should be a basic protocol'

Advocacy groups say Ms Sweetnam's experience is not unusual, with the elderly and those with a disability often complaining about being treated in an "undignified" way by airport security across Australia.

"Not all people who need assistance have somebody with them to keep an eye on them," Ronda Held, the chief executive of Council on the Ageing Victoria, said.

"If you're in a wheelchair or if you're frail or if you've got a sight impairment then it's very hard to keep track of your luggage."

"It should be a basic protocol that people get to keep their luggage with them if they are going to be pulled aside for any period of time for a check."

Ms Held said airports also needed to upgrade security booths to better accommodate the elderly and those with a disability.

"Often [people] end up waiting in a line and holding up other people and it makes people feel very embarrassed and nervous," she said.

The ABC has contacted Melbourne Airport for comment.