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Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031 is a plan to make life better for people with disability. The Australian Government wrote this plan with people with disability. It talks about what can be done to make Australia more inclusive. If Australia is inclusive, people with disability can take part in everything that happens in Australia.

Supporting document for the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002. This supporting document assists operators and providers with planning, designing, implementing and delivering accessibility and non-discriminatory public transport services.

These Guidelines have been developed by the Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) to provide clear and practical assistance to facilitate compliance with the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (Cth) (the Transport Standards) through the use of equivalent access.

These Guidelines are distinct from the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport Guidelines 2004 (No. 3) (Cth) (Transport Standards Guidelines), which seek to provide general guidance on the Transport Standards.

The Guidelines provide:

• information about the operation of the federal Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) (the Disability Discrimination Act) in relation to:
  • unlawful disability discrimination in access to premises and the provision of goods, services and facilities
  • when discrimination may not be unlawful
  • the relationship between the Disability Discrimination Act and the Transport Standards
• information about the operation of the Transport Standards in relation to:
  • compliance with the Transport Standards by equivalent access
  • when failure to comply with the Transport Standards may not be unlawful
• practical guidance for using equivalent access to comply with the Transport Standards.

These Guidelines do not provide guidance on any other disability standards made under the Disability Discrimination Act or other regulatory instruments relevant to the provision of public transport.

Neighbourhood accessibility planning projects aim to give safe access to all ages of pedestrians and cyclists in neighbourhood areas.

Neighbourhood accessibility plans involve a council co-ordinator working with various council teams, external agencies and members of the neighbourhood, to determine issues related to walking and cycling. A wide range of solutions, across a broad spectrum of disciplines are planned and implemented.

Neighbourhood accessibility planning projects follow a well-established process. The main principles of this process are that they:

• bring together key stakeholders to collaborate in addressing safety and access issues
• rely on community participation in risk identification, development of solutions, and implementation of solutions
• involve and engage all relevant local authority teams
• are data and risk analysis based
• develop and implement an integrated package of engineering/environmental improvements, enforcement, policy, encouragement and educational interventions that will address locally identified issues involve evaluation that ensures the measurement of all implementation outcomes.

The NZ Transport Agency funds territorial local authorities to undertake neighbourhood accessibility planning projects.

The Australian Human Rights Commission has issued this Advisory Notes on streetscape, public outdoor areas, fixtures, fittings and furniture to assist those responsible for premises who are seeking to improve access on matters not covered by the Disability (Access to Premises – buildings) Standards 2010.

The Guide seeks to encourage policy makers, planners, designers, builders, certifiers and operators to think beyond compliance and the physical and governance boundaries of services and infrastructure and focus instead on people's accessibility needs across their whole journey.

The Transport Access Strategy sets out the Tasmanian Government’s approach to providing better integrated and coordinated land-based passenger transport services for all Tasmanians, particularly those disadvantaged through economic circumstances, age or disability.

The strategy aims to improve social connectivity and access to employment (paid and voluntary), training and education, services and recreational opportunities by focusing on progressing the following priority areas:

1. Living closer: improving opportunities for people to live closer to employment, education, services, recreational opportunities and key transport corridors.
2. Working together: fostering stronger collaboration and partnership between governments, key service providers, and public, private and not-for-profit transport providers.
3. Connected transport system: focusing on frequent, efficient, accessible, affordable and reliable transport services.
4. Better integration: ensuring public transport is easier to use through better coordination and integration of services.
5. Closing transport gaps: developing innovative approaches to enable transport-disadvantaged members of the community to overcome transport barriers.
6. Innovative pricing: developing innovative pricing mechanisms to support the greater use of public transport in order to make it more viable.
7. Improved infrastructure: providing more opportunities for people to walk, cycle and use public transport by making sure infrastructure is safe, accessible and attractive to use.

Inclusive Victoria: state disability plan (2022–2026) is Victoria’s plan for making our community inclusive and accessible for everyone.

The Accessible Public Transport Action Plan 2020-24 outlines how the Department of Transport and Planning is continuing to eliminate barriers to public transport journeys.

This action plan complements and supports other Government plans:

• Inclusive Victoria: State Disability Plan 2022-2026
• Getting to work: Victorian public sector disability employment action plan 2018–2025
• Victorian Autism Plan 2023: Refresh

The action plan was developed in consultation with the Department of Transport and Planning, Safe Transport Victoria and public transport operators and advocates.

The action plan sets out the steps the Victorian Government is taking to improve access to public transport and contributes to the Victorian State Disability Plan 2013-2016 and complies with the Federal Government's Disability Discrimination Act 1992.

Special Needs Transport may be available for eligible students:

• from home to the closest appropriate disability education setting located in an ACT public school
• from school to home (or respite or after school care if it is available within the existing transport routes and if there is space on the bus)

Travel aims to be by the shortest route between the student's home and school.

The Age Friendly Suburbs Program started in 2015-16. It involves improvements to the path network to provide better access. The focus of the Program is on access for the aged community and those with more specific mobility needs. But we know these improvements benefit all Canberrans.

The Department of Education and the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics (DIPL) are committed to ensuring every child and young person can access a quality education that is capable of enabling all children to reach their potential and maximise their achievements and contribution to the community.

The Education Act 2015 (NT) stipulates that parents are responsible for ensuring their child/ren receive an education, this includes ensuring appropriate transport for their child/ren to travel to and from school.

The Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics and the Department of Education acknowledges that families of children and young people with special needs may experience difficulties when arranging school transport options for their children. To assist in allaying these difficulties, DIPL provides transport services for eligible children and young people with special needs who are unable to travel to school independently and safely and may not be able to access education without the provision of special needs transport to and from school.

The transport services provided by DIPL do not operate to relieve parents of their responsibilities. The service supports those children with special needs who have limited or no other viable transport options to continue to receive an education.

The Education Act 2015 (NT) stipulates that parents are responsible for ensuring that their children receive an education. This includes their responsibility to ensure their child/ren have appropriate transport to travel to and from school.

The Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics (DIPL) and the Department of Education acknowledges that families of children and young people with special needs may experience difficulties when arranging school transport options for their children. To assist in allaying these difficulties, DIPL provides transport services for eligible children and young people with special needs who are unable to travel to school independently and safely and may not be able to access education without the provision of special needs transport to and from school.

The transport services provided by DIPL do not operate to relieve parents of their responsibilities. The service supports those children with special needs who have limited or no other viable transport options to continue to receive an education.

The Northern Territory (NT) Disability Strategy 2022-2032 and the 3-year action plan 2022-2025 is the first of its kind for the Territory.

It demonstrates the NT Government’s responsibility and accountability to all Territorians with disability.

People with disability have guided the development of the strategy, and their voices, experiences and choices are reflected throughout.

The Disability Access and Inclusion Plan 2020-2024 (DAIP) details the Department for Infrastructure and Transport’s (the Department) commitment to promoting, protecting and enhancing the rights of people living with disability in South Australia. The Plan includes clear and measurable actions and targets designed through community and Departmental consultation to give effect to the priority areas of the State Disability Inclusion Plan 2019-2023 (the State Plan), as they relate to the purpose and activities of the Department.

Equitable access is a Built Environment Indicator under the Access and Connection theme of the Movement and Place Framework used by Transport for NSW.

Equitable access ensures people with mobility impairment or vulnerability have the same opportunity as able-bodied people to access parts of the network, and at the same comfort levels. Provision of such access maximises participation and social inclusion within a community. Accessibility is the ability for everyone, regardless of disability, personal circumstances, or where they live, to use and benefit from the transport network.

Collaborating with and guiding state and local government and industry partners to plan, design and develop active transport solutions to help make it an easy choice for people of all ages and abilities to walk, wheel and ride.

On this page:

• Universal design
• Grades and surface treatments
• Kerb ramps
• Tactile Ground Surface Indicators (TGSIs)
• Audio tactile facilities
• Legislation and guidance

Including:

• Why Walking Matters
• Pedestrian Characteristics
• Planning for Walking
• Walking Data
• Audits and measuring walkable environments
• Urban planning and urban design
• Supporting facilities
• Shade and street trees
• Construction and maintenance
• Paths for walking
• Road crossings
• Speed management and integrated treatments
• Universal access
• Promotion, encouragement and behaviour change

More people will walk when everyday destinations are connected by comfortable, direct, safe and accessible routes. Walking network plans (WNPs) are a first step to creating better places to walk.

The Queensland Government is committed to achieving the Queensland Walking Strategy 2019–2029 vision of walking becoming 'an easy choice for everyone, every day'. When we talk about walking, we also include running and moving with the help of a mobility device (such as a wheelchair, mobility cane or a walking frame).

The following guidance supports practitioners to prepare WNPs and a prioritised works program to make the plan a reality.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (the Act) is in place to eliminate discrimination against people with disability as far as possible, and to promote community acceptance of the principle that people with disability have the same fundamental rights as all members of the community. The Act provides that direct and indirect discrimination on the basis of disability is unlawful in a broad range of areas of public life, including and access to goods, services and facilities.

The Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (Transport Standards) provide requirements for public transport operators and providers to make their services accessible and remove discrimination against people with disability. The Transport Standards took effect on 23 October 2002.

The Transport Standards apply to train, tram, bus and coach, ferry, taxi and aviation services and are designed to provide certainty to providers and operators of public transport services and infrastructure about their responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.

Getting to and from public transport is integral to every public transport journey. 

All passengers must make their way to a public transport stop to board public transport, then make their way from where they disembark to their final destination. Often referred to as the ‘first and last mile’, the actual length of these trips can range from less than 100m to many kilometres. 

First and last mile connections are critical to a viable and enjoyable public transport journey experience.

Key issues relating to the quality and ease of access to and from a public transport stop include:

• The distance between the origin/ destination and the public transport station or stop. This largely determines whether passengers choose to walk or cycle, or use a car, motorbike, or bus to access public transport.
• The level of comfort and universal access along the connecting route. Even short distances can be perceived as unattractive or inaccessible if they involve long or convoluted road crossings, extensive exposure to inclement weather or lack of appropriate infrastructure.
• The availability and attractiveness of options including taxi/ rideshare or feeder bus services, as well as facilities for Kiss and Ride or Park and Ride.
• A person’s level of perceived or actual safety and security accessing public transport. 

It is important that those involved in public transport planning consider the whole of the passengers' journey. When planning for public transport journeys, the following questions should be considered:

• How will people get to and from their public transport services?
• Is the whole journey accessible for all people?
• Is the whole journey safe?
• Is the whole journey attractive, convenient, relatively seamless, and intuitive?
• Is the whole journey affordable?

This research considers land use and transport accessibility drawing on international practice from the UK, Europe, USA and Australia. An objective of the research was to define accessibility and propose a methodology for how accessibility could be measured and quantified in New Zealand, both at a neighbourhood or a wider area such as a suburb, city or region.

The result of the research was an understanding of other countries’ experiences developing and setting accessibility policy and the success of those approaches. This is important because if New Zealand chooses to set explicit accessibility policy, the research explains how that might be best achieved.

A second result of the research was the development of a new methodology for calculating accessibility that draws on overseas and improved practice. The new methodology quantitatively measures accessibility taking into consideration different modes of travel (walk, cycle, private motor vehicle etc), travel behaviour (ideally using logistic decay functions), destinations (origin or destination based), activities (consumed or supplied) and multiple opportunities (saturations). The calculation methodology was piloted on Christchurch (a city of some 350,000 people) and the accessibility of every household quantified to a variety of destinations including doctors, supermarkets and schools.

Keywords: accessibility, cycling, GIS, indicators, journey planning, methodology, modelling, networks, New Zealand, public transport, transport, walking

This research investigated the applicability of accessibility planning in New Zealand as a tool for assessing and improving personal access to essential services for all New Zealanders.

It canvassed international accessibility planning practices in England, the Netherlands and Southern California to understand the various drivers for its introduction and the different approaches taken in its implementation.

All three case studies share the goal of improving individuals’ access to activity centres and recognise that accessibility planning is best undertaken at the local level with some form of central government guidance and monitoring.

The English comprehensive accessibility planning framework has been adapted to New Zealand’s existing social services and local government legislative and institutional environment and the recently legislated changes to the government land transport sector.

The resulting recommended framework employed a collaborative approach to assess and improve people’s accessibility to employment, food shopping, health, education and social services across New Zealand.

All levels of government would participate in the assessment of accessibility, development of priorities, indicators and action plans and monitor progress against outcomes, within government frameworks.

Transport actions developed by regional accessibility partnerships to address regional problems would feed directly into their regional land transport programmes for prioritisation for funding.

Key design parameters for accessibility such as kerb arrangements, access ramps, tactile ground surface indicators, and pedestrian movement.

The Disability Access and Inclusion Plan details the Department for Infrastructure and Transport’s commitment to promoting, protecting and enhancing the rights of people living with disability in South Australia. The Plan includes clear and measurable actions and targets designed through community and Departmental consultation to give effect to the priority areas of the first State Disability Inclusion Plan 2019-2023, as they relate to the purpose and activities of the Department.

The NSW Government is funding numerous projects under the Transport Access Program to upgrade train stations, ferry wharves and interchanges. New infrastructure, such as the Sydney Metro Northwest and the CBD and South East Light Rail, are being built to the very highest standards of accessibility.

We have invested in new trains, buses and ferries – all which have improved accessibility features.

The Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2018-2022 builds upon the successes of the previous plan, the Disability Action Plan 2012-2017, to set an ambitious agenda for the next five years.

This document presents a vision of a more accessible future for transport in NSW. More importantly, it outlines concrete, measurable steps towards achieving that vision.

The PTA, together with our Transport Portfolio partners Main Roads and the Department of Transport, has developed the Transport Portfolio Disability Access and Inclusion Plan (DAIP) for 2022-2027.

The DAIP aims to ensure that people with a disability have the same opportunity as other people to access PTA public transport services, information and facilities.

The PTA has also developed the PTA Implementation Plan for Transport Portfolio Disability Access and Inclusion Plan which demonstrates our commitment to providing a high level of independence for all passengers.

The PTA Accessibility Policy has been developed as the overarching document for access.  Our Accessibility Policy outlines how the PTA shall, as far as reasonably practical, provide public passenger transport services and facilities that are accessible to all passengers.

The Victorian Government is working to ensure our public transport network is inclusive and accessible for all Victorians.

In Victoria, 1.1 million people have either a physical or non-physical disability. Our ageing population and those with other mobility barriers also need accessibility support on the transport network.  

We’re developing a Transport Accessibility Strategy to improve accessibility for everyone across the transport network. 

In developing the strategy, we’ve taken a user-centred approach, drawing on the experiences and views of a wide range of people with disability from across Victoria. 

We’re also taking a whole-of-system view to identify opportunities to improve the experiences of people with disability. 

The Strategy will help us set priorities for addressing issues across all elements of the transport system, including public transport, roads, parking, bike lanes and shared paths. 

The strategy is expected to be completed in 2024.

TMR commits to lead the delivery of accessible and inclusive transport products, services, information and infrastructure, and TMR workplaces and work practices. 

The TMR Accessibility and Inclusion Plan 2023–2024 was developed to outline the practical actions TMR will take over the next 2 years to deliver our vision. 

To develop the plan, we looked at best practice research, data and analysis, international accessibility and inclusion reporting frameworks, key indicators of success, and we engaged our customers, partners and staff.

This plan outlines 27 actions across 3 key pillars:

1. Strategy
2. Culture
3. Process

We will report our progress on the plan actions and in 2024 we will develop an updated plan based on key learnings, co-design activities and emerging trends. 

This plan is available in the following accessible formats: 

• HTML version of the plan
• Word version of the Accessibility and Inclusion Plan 2023-2024
• PDF of the Accessibility and Inclusion Plan 2023–2024
• Video including Auslan, narration, and captions.

The Accessibility and Inclusion Strategy (AIS) will ensure that TMR's approach to accessibility and inclusion aligns with the Queensland Government's Advancing Queensland's Priorities.