Reform of the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (Transport Standards)

The Australian Government is reforming the Transport Standards to improve the accessibility of public transport and remove discrimination against people with disability. The reforms were developed in collaboration with people with disability, the public transport industry and state and territory governments.

 

Next steps

The Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport Amendment 2026 (the amending instrument), its explanatory statement and the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport Guidelines 2026 (the Guidelines) were tabled in both Houses of Parliament on 11 August 2026. The amending instrument amends the Transport Standards to implement the legislative reforms. The explanatory statement explains the changes introduced by the amending instrument in more detail. The Guidelines provide practical information to help public transport operators and providers understand and implement the amended Transport Standards. Feedback provided in response to the exposure draft of the amending instrument and updated guidelines was considered when finalising both documents.

All documents are now available on the Federal Register of Legislation.

Before the amendments can take effect, they must undergo a disallowance process during which Parliament can review the instrument. If the instrument is not disallowed, the amended Transport Standards will commence at the end of this process. Shortly after the amendments take effect, a compilation will be published on the Federal Register of Legislation. The compilation will show the full text of Transport Standards as amended and in force.

Further information and supporting resources will be published on this webpage closer to the commencement date of the amendments.

Outcomes of working groups

As part of the reform package, the government agreed to convene five working groups consisting of representatives from disability representative organisations, the public transport industry, state and territory governments and subject matter experts to conduct further work to finalise reform areas.

The outcome of each working group is available below. The government is now actioning the recommendations outlined in each paper.

  • Point-to-point transport—tasked with conducting a holistic review of the point-to-point transport industry to ensure Transport Standards requirements for taxis are fit for purpose and identify whether further reforms are required to include rideshare within the Transport Standards. 

  • Reporting—tasked with developing a non-mandatory reporting framework to encourage public transport operators and providers to develop and publish reports on their compliance with the Transport Standards.
  • Hearing augmentation—tasked with developing new guidance related to the feasibility of installing hearing augmentation systems in public transport environments and the viability of emerging digital solutions.
  • Braille—tasked with finalising regulatory reforms for the provision of braille in embossed formats and on signage.
  • Removable gangways—tasked with finalising regulatory reforms for the design of removable gangways for ferries.

Frequently asked questions

The Transport Standards were introduced in 2002 to provide certainty to operators and providers of public transport services about their responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. There have been significant changes in public transport technology and usage since the Transport Standards came into effect over twenty years ago, including the use of rideshare services, electronic ticketing, and greater availability of passenger information delivered online and in real-time. As such, there is a need to modernise the Transport Standards to meet Australians’ current and future needs.

Once the updated Transport Standards are in force, some of the existing requirements will be maintained, while some will be updated. There will be no changes to the compliance dates set out in Schedule 1 of the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002. The reforms do not provide existing assets within any additional time to comply with the current requirements of the Transport Standards.

Reform areas were identified and developed by the National Accessible Transport Taskforce, comprising representatives from the disability community, the public transport industry, technical subject matter experts and governments.

More than 500 participants took part in a range of consultation events and activities including surveys, webinars, focus groups and written submissions.

Some reform areas were agreed in principle or required further work. To conduct this further work, the Department established working groups with people with disability, industry and government. Working groups were established for the following reform areas:

  • Braille (reform areas 15 and 16)
  • Removable gangways (reform area 42)
  • Hearing augmentation (reform areas 9 and 10)
  • Reporting (reform area 1)
  • Point-to-point transport (reform area 3).

Public submissions to the Stage 2 Consultation RIS can be viewed at the Stage 2 Reforms Have Your Say page.

We have heard about the barriers people with disability have when travelling by air through the:

The Australian Government wants to make sure air travel is accessible for people with disability.

In addition to the reforms, we are creating new aviation-specific disability standards (Aviation Disability Standards) as a schedule to the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002. Creating new Aviation Disability Standards builds on the reforms to the Transport Standards. The new Aviation Disability Standards are currently being developed through a co-design process with people with disability.

More information, including updates on the co-design process, is available on our Aviation Accessibility page.

Background

The reform process was undertaken in two stages. The department developed Decision Regulation Impact Statements (Decision RIS) for both stages of the reform, which outline the options for each reform area, findings from the public consultation, the costs and benefits for each option, and a preferred option. The chosen option can be different from the preferred option. The Decision RIS identifies where this has happened.

The Stage 1 and Stage 2 Decision RIS' are available here:

The Australian Government announced the final reform package on 20 March 2024. The decision summary document outlines the reform process and the chosen option for each of the 76 reform areas at a high level. The decision summary is available here:

Easy Read is sometimes called Easy English or simple English. Easy Read format presents information in a way that is easy to understand. The Decision Summary is available in Easy Read here:

The Decision Summary is available in Auslan here:

The Decision Summary is available in languages other than English here:

An exposure draft of the amending instrument to implement the reforms to the Transport Standards was released for public consultation between 10 October and 4 December 2025. Further information is available on the Have Your Say page.

Further supporting documentation can be requested via email at DisabilityTransport@infrastructure.gov.au or telephone on 1800 621 372.