According to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (Department), in 2018 almost one in two people aged five years and over identified as having a disability. This initiated consultation on the Transport Standards (Standards) reforms set to impact the bus and coach industry. From 15 March to 9 August 2022, the Government consulted on the impacts, costs and benefits associated with fifty four reform areas as part of the second stage of reforms for the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (DSAPT).
Consultation on the reforms included regulatory and non-regulatory options consisting of minor updates and major reforms. The Stage 2 Reforms of the Standards are scheduled for consideration by Transport Ministers in mid-2023.
The bus and coach industry in Australia understands the importance of accessible public transport for all passengers. The success of a bus and coach operator relies on customers consuming bus and coach services. The BIC acknowledges the Standards reform must provide clarity for both the users and providers of accessible public transport. To comprehensively represent the bus and coach industry and the associated challenges of the reforms, the BIC established a DSAPT Consultation Committee (Committee). The Committee includes urban, regional and national bus and coach operators. The Committee’s primary objective is to enable the BIC to provide a comprehensive and informed industry-led response to the public consultation on the Stage 2 reforms.
The Committee has spent the last 3 months reviewing the Stage 2 reforms, engaging all state and territory jurisdictions and the Bus Australia network, consolidating organisational ‘pressure points’, and validating findings. This has enabled the BIC to prepare a comprehensive response on behalf of industry, which reflects the challenges, required supporting mechanisms and realistic implementation timelines. In responding to the consultation on the reforms, the BIC was open to adopting regulation where it could be successfully applied operationally, the implementation and associated costs were manageable, there were no unjustified hardships as a result, and did not unintentionally weaken the intended outcome. The BIC’s response considers options which support or are in line with commercial best practice. Where the DSAPT Committee’s criteria was met, the BIC endorsed the regulatory option in full or with minor amendment. In instances where the BIC did not support a regulatory option, the BIC examined non-regulatory options and have supported ‘workable’ alternatives across most bus and coach operators nationally. Where no options provided met this criterion, the BIC has proposed the status quo remains.
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