Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002
The Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (DSAPT)65 aim to provide clarity on the obligations for public transport providers under the DDA.66 The DSAPT do not provide sufficient guidance and certainty to transport service providers, nor are there any mandatory provisions.67
Breaches of DSAPT rely on individual complaints, and at this stage very few complaints have been tested in a court of law.68 The lack of judicial interpretation means that key terms such as ‘accessible information’ that are not specifically defined in the DSAPT are still open to interpretation.69
There are a number of exclusions from the DSAPT, which have a negative impact on people with disability. For example, dedicated school bus services and small airports and aircraft are excluded from the DSAPT. This means that many children with disability are unable to travel with their classmates to school and have to use more expensive means of travel; and that people with disability in regional and remote areas, where smaller aircraft and airports are a key mode of transport, are unable or limited in their capacity to travel.
