Travel

ICPA Qld lobbies for travel concession (air, bus, and private vehicle) for geographically isolated children, as well as lobbying for rural and remote bus runs, the travel subsidy scheme, and community consultation in travel issues.

ICPA Qld Inc has a policy that the payment of travel allowances to parents of geographically isolated children helps to defray the cost of gaining access to educational services. More information can be found here. 

In 2024 the Travel Portfolio will focus on issues including: 

1. Ensuring Kindergarten children receive a guaranteed seat allocation on a school bus to enable regular and reliable engagement with early learning opportunities when available in their local community
2. Seeking changes in the Conveyance Allowance methodology to better reflect the actual travel undertaken to ensure students attend school using the method best suited to their circumstances and location
3. Seeking Conveyance Allowance eligibility for Kindergarten students where parents/caregivers use a private vehicle to transport children in order for those children to attend a kindergarten program in their community. 

Rural and Remote Bus Runs - Subsidised bus services in isolated areas

While kilometer-based and fares-based school bus services are fully funded by the government, a small number of services across the state operate on the basis of partial funding by the government.
Policies on bus safety, travel, and route cancellation should be developed in consultation with relevant rural and remote community representation.

Other Transport

For geographically isolated students living a great distance from educational institutions, travelling expenses can be prohibitive. For many rural and remote students, attending school away from home is the only option and in the majority of cases, the educational institutions are significant distances from the family home.
Student concessional travel would provide financial assistance for students who need to travel long distances to attend a school, college or university.

School Transport Assistance Scheme 

This page sets out the processes involved in determining eligibility, how to apply and contains links to policies and application forms. 

A YouTube video is also available here which provides a look at the application process for STAS. 

Students may be eligible for school transport assistance if they:

• have parents/guardians who are residents of Queensland
• are independent students who are residents of Queensland
• attend an approved school or an alternative program approved by the Queensland Department of Education
• are 18 or younger.

Students are not eligible to apply for school transport assistance if they are:

• pre-prep and kindergarten students
• mature age students
• overseas, interstate and exchange students
• TAFE students
• distance education students
• tertiary students.

You can apply online for the following types of assistance: 

• bus and ferry transport (including safety-net)
• rail transport
• private transport (conveyance allowance)
• drought (additional conveyance allowance)
• students living in shared care arrangements

Conveyance Allowance

Class I Allowance – changing the conveyance allowance to coincide with the AIC conveyance allowance which is measured from the principal family home to the school and is measured from the front door of the home to the school.

School Transport Assistance for Students with a Disability

The Queensland Government continues to provide school transport assistance for students with disability, while a national solution around school transport for students with disability is being identified. Students with disability who meet the eligibility requirements may be provided with school transport assistance, whether or not they are eligible to receive funding under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

Enquiries about school transport assistance for students with disability should be made with the school attended.

Non-State Schools Transport Assistance Scheme 

The Non State Schools Transport Assistance Scheme (NSSTAS) is a joint initiative of the Queensland Catholic Education Commission (QCEC) and Independent Schools Queensland (ISQ).

The Scheme is administered by QCEC on behalf of all non-state schools in Queensland and is funded by the State of Queensland through the Department of Education.

Emerging Athlete Pathways

The Emerging Athletes Pathways (EAP) Program supports eligible young athletes, coaches and officials aged 10-18 years to progress on a development pathway by providing financial assistance to help alleviate the costs associated with attending state, national and international events. 

Subsidised Air Travel Options

There is currently assistance for air travel in the form of:
• Discount flight schemes 
• Local Passenger Subsidy Schemes. Please contact your local government for further information.
• REX airlines currently offer a Bush to Boarding Program – This includes concessional airfares for students departing:
- Cairns to Burketown, Doomadgee, Mt Isa, Karumba, Normanton and Mornington Is.
- Brisbane to St George, Cunnamulla, Thargomindah, Charleville, Bedourie/Birdsville/Boulia and Mt Isa.

 

ICPA Qld Travel Portfolio Report 2023 is available for your perusal.