If you are not allowed on a flight then you can call it whatever you like but it is refusal of carriage
You are refusing to acknowledge that she did not have a valid ticket or reservation for Qantas, and just expected everyone to drop whatever they were doing, break the rules & policies of their employer and make some sort of special arrangement for her.
The rules are in place for a reason. The people on the ground have no discretion to break or bypass them. This is yet another media beatup.
She was told what the documented procedure to follow was, but apparently did not want to follow it, in fact she has no doubt been through it before, if she's ever flown Qantas.
I'm getting sick and tired of these "special" people who think the world revolves around them.