The Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (Transport Standards) are formulated by the Attorney-General under subsection 31 (1) of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.
Disability Discrimination Act 1992
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 Attorney-General may formulate standards, known as disability standards, in relation to any area in which it is unlawful for a person to discriminate against another person on the ground of a disability of the other person.
Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002
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 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.
On 13 October 2026, the Transport Standards were amended to introduce new requirements to improve the accessibility of public transport. Operators and providers were required to fully comply with the requirements of the Transport Standards that existed before these amendments were made by the end of 2022 (except trains and trams, which have until the end of 2032).
The new requirements will be implemented on public transport services over time. Some changes must be made within a 5- or 10-year timeframe, while others will only happen when substantially upgrading or purchasing new assets. The reforms do not affect pre-existing obligations or provide additional time to comply with pre-existing requirements.
Further information is available on the Reform of the Transport Standards webpage.
The Transport Standards are supported by the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport Guidelines 2004 (Guidelines). The Guidelines provide guidance on interpreting and complying with the Transport Standards.
The Australian Government has also published the Whole Journey Guide: A guide for thinking beyond compliance to create accessible public transport journeys (Whole Journey Guide). The Whole Journey Guide encourages operators and providers 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.
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