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Public transport timetables and updates will soon need to be provided in accessible formats and taxi ranks will be required to increase the ratio of wheelchair accessible taxi spaces, under reforms aiming to improve experiences for millions of Australians with disability.
It follows a review of the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport — which require states, territories and transport providers to make their services accessible and remove discrimination — that began in 2022 and included consultation with the disability community.
Other changes include;
- Requiring vertical edge barriers on boarding ramps to allow wheelchair users to board transport more safely,
- Mandating that "next stop" announcements include both signage and audio, and
- Making sure staff at transport companies understand their roles and legal responsibilities.
The ABC recently heard hundreds of stories from people with disability who said Australian transport systems had failed them, and the laws in place to prevent and penalise discrimination were not always being adhered to or enforced.
They said problems were rife regardless of the type of disability someone had, the mode of transport they used, or where they lived in Australia.
Some said being repeatedly frustrated, lost, left behind or out of pocket, made them feel isolated and like second class citizens.
All transport infrastructure — except for trains and trams, which have until 2032 — was supposed to be fully compliant with the old standards by the end of 2022, but the deadline was missed.
Announcing the update on Wednesday, federal transport minister Catherine King said it was the first major reform of the standards since they were introduced more than 20 years ago.
"The new standards will improve accessibility and support independent travel for a range of users, meaning they can plan and undertake their journeys with a greater level of certainty," she said in a statement.
More information will be available to users and operators of public transport in the coming months, she added.
While responsibility for transport sits with state and territory governments, the federal government sets the accessibility standards they need to follow.
The update comes amid a separate review of the policies that guide the aviation sector, which is set to be released later this year.
An estimated 4.4 million people in Australia live with disability, and advocates want transport companies and state and territory governments to act on the new standards as quickly as possible.
"I don't think the treatment of people with disability is the fault of the standards themselves ... it comes back to governments implementing them and then policing them," Physical Disability Australia president Andrew Fairbairn said.
Mr Fairbairn said non-disabled people would be "up in arms if they came across some of the things that we do".
"I don't know why there's this expectation that people with disability are just going to sit and take that lack of service and inaccessibility.
"An able-bodied person wouldn't put up with it — so why should a person with disability?"