Document Type

Conference Paper

Publication Date

2007

Subject Area

Mobility - Accessibility (Disability), Population - Young people

Abstract

This paper reports on a project which was conducted for a consortium of four Community Transport groups in South West Sydney. The project's aim was to identify the transport needs and travel patterns of young people with disabilities (YPWD) across the 7 local government areas of Bankstown, Camden, Campbelltown, Fairfield, Liverpool, Wingecarribee and Wollondilly. This is an area with a population of around 800,000 people. Young people with disabilities are defined by home and community care (HACC) for funding purposes, as people under 65 years of age, as opposed to their older fail aged clients who are over 65 years of age. The study included people with intellectual, mental and/or physical disabilities. It is apparent that even though YPWD are part of the HACC target group which arre eligible for Community Transport services, Community Transport predominantly provides services for the frail aged population (i.e. people over 65 years). For the four Community Transport groups participating in this project, it was estimated that only a small proportion, around 15%, of their clients are YPWD. It is thought that this may reflect the fact that the transport needs of YPWD are different from those of the frail aged clients. However, there is very little, if any, date or information which could be used by the YPWD. The project was designed to provide that information which could be used by the Community Transport groups to demonstrate the demand for resources for additional services.