State of Australian cities 2014-2015: progress in Australian regions

Provides insight into the vital role that Australian cities play in the growth of the countries economy and tracks the overall progress made in Australia\u27s major centres. Summary Since 2010, the State of Australian Cities reports have examined the progress being made in our major cities. These reports have provided insight into the vital role that Australian cities play in the growth of our economy and have tracked the overall progress made in Australia\u27s major centres. The State of Australian Cities 2014–2015 once again looks at the drivers behind some of the public policy issues facing the country today and into the future. Australia is a highly urbanised country. The populations of Australia\u27s major cities are at record levels, as is the number of people employed. It is in our cities that the overwhelming majority of jobs are located and where the most new jobs are being created. The economic output of our major cities has grown and their national importance remains extremely high. However, alongside that growth there is more demand on transport systems in Australia than ever before. This report examines population growth, economic growth and the increased traffic flows through our ports and airports and on our roads and rail lines. Issues of space and the potential conflicts of the usability of cities with the utility and long term capacity of freight hubs, ports and airports and the movement of goods and people in cities is a challenge for policy makers. This report provides the evidence base for policy makers at all levels of government to consider those challenges now and into the future

Review of the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002: final report

Executive summary: The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) allows the Australian Government to make standards to ensure that people with disability are not discriminated against, and to provide information about these standards. The purpose of the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (Transport Standards) is to enable public transport operators and providers to remove discrimination from public transport services. Part 34 of the Transport Standards requires the Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, in consultation with the Attorney-General, to review the efficiency and effectiveness of the Transport Standards within five years of them taking effect, with subsequent reviews every five years. This report of the Review of the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (this review) assesses how accessible public transport systems are to people with disability. Under its Terms of Reference, publicly released on 19 October 2012, this review was required to: report the views of people with disability, and the community generally, on progress towards achieving the targets set out in the Transport Standards assess compliance with the requirements set out in Schedule 1 of the Transport Standards, in particular the targets listed under Part 2 of Schedule 1 identify initiatives and actions for removing discrimination from public transport services delivered by state and territory governments since the 2007 Review assess the progress of implementing the response to the 2007 Review of the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (the 2007 Review). The effectiveness and efficiency of the Transport Standards is vital for people with disability to engage and participate in the community. The 2012 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Disability, Ageing and Carers Survey (SDAC) released in November 2013 shows that the number of people with disability in Australia is 18.5 per cent of the population or 4.2 million people. Of these people, 1.4 million had a profound or severe limitation affecting their mobility, self-care or communication. The rate of disability increased with age, with less than 5 per cent of children under the age of five having a disability compared to almost 90 per cent of people aged 90 years and over. There has been no improvement in the labour-force participation rate by people with disability since the SDAC was last conducted in 2009. The 2012 SDAC also shows that just over 50 per cent of people with disability aged between 15 and 64 were participating in the labour force in 2012, compared with 80 per cent of people without disability. An accessible public transport system is also important for planning for Australia’s ageing population. In 2012 there were around 3.3 million older people (aged 65 years and over), representing 14 per cent of the population. This proportion has risen from 12.6 per cent in 2003. Around half of Australia’s older population have disability. As such, older people with disability now form a larger part of the Australian population than previously measured. The Transport Standards also help to ensure Australia meets its international obligations. The ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2008 reflects the Australian Government’s commitment to promoting and supporting the equal and active participation by people with disability in economic and social life. The National Disability Strategy (NDS) incorporates the principles underpinning the CRPD into the government’s policies and programs directed towards people with disability. The NDS Policy Direction 4 of Outcome 1 focuses on developing a public, private and community transport system that is accessible to the whole community.&nbsp

Progress in Australian regions: yearbook 2015

The Progress in Australian Regions—Yearbook provides a statistical resource that can help all Australian\u27s to understand how their region is progressing against economic, social, environmental and governance indicators. The Yearbook brings together information about Australia\u27s regions from a range of different sources and presents that data in a consistent format over time. This second edition of the Yearbook builds on the information that was provided in 2015 by updating data sources wherever possible and improving the method used to construct estimates for a number of indicators. The 2015 Yearbook also includes an expanded set of geographies. Within the Yearbook publication, the list of sub-state regions has been expanded to provide a finer level of detail in outback Australia. The attached data files provide even greater geographic detail, presenting data by Local Government Area (LGA) and by Regional Development Australia Committee (RDA) boundaries wherever possible

Review of the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002: government response

Overview The Australian Government recognises that access to public transport is critical for people with disability in order for them to participate fully in community life and the economy. The Australian Government is committed to reducing discrimination against people with disability and to improving accessibility to public transport in collaboration with state and territory governments. The National Disability Strategy 2010-2020 seeks to drive a more inclusive approach to the design of policies, programs and infrastructure so that people with disability can participate as equal citizens in all areas of Australian life. An important outcome of the Strategy is for people with disability to live in accessible and well-designed communities where transport systems are accessible for the whole community. Ultimately, greater access and participation will lead to a more inclusive and productive society for the disability community and Australia as a whole. In order to achieve this goal the Australian Government with the cooperation of states and territories enacted the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (Transport Standards) on 23 October 2002. Since then the Transport Standards have provided guidance to public transport providers and operators in meeting their obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and contributed to making public transport more accessible to not only people with disability but also the elderly and parents with prams. The Australian Government therefore welcomes the findings of the second legislated review of the Transport Standards which reports on the effectiveness and efficiency of the standards 10 years after their introduction.&nbsp

Investigating the impact of catchment areas of airports on estimating air travel demand: A case study of regional Western Australia

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd The aviation industry in Western Australia (WA) plays a vital role in the economic and social development of the state. However, accurate forecasts for passenger movements are not available to policy makers due to lack of relevant air travel demand information. The objective of this study is to estimate the domestic air passenger seat numbers between airport-pairs based on online flight information in regional WA based on a gravity model using Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood estimation (PPML). Particularly, we aim to investigate the impact of distance, airfare, catchment areas, population, tourism and mining sector on forecasting air passenger seat numbers in order to inform and guide policy making. This research collected appropriate data and produced valid models that represent air passenger seat numbers offered on regular public transport (RPT) air services in regional WA. The models consider both geographic and service-related variables, such as the catchment area of airports, population and number of tourists in the airport's catchment area. Two kinds of airport catchment areas are generated in this study, based on Thiessen polygon and two and half hours’ driving distance. The Thiessen polygon catchment areas cover the whole WA regions, while the 2.5 h's driving catchment area covers only 32 percent of the WA region. The size of the catchment area can affect the magnitude of factors, and therefore influence the modelling results. When deciding the catchment area for the study, it is important to take the spatial distribution of factors into considerations. For both Thiessen polygon and two and half hours’ driving distance catchment area, the model results illustrate that distance between airports, airfare of the flight, population of the origin airport's catchment area and the number of operating mine sites of the destination airport's catchment area are significantly correlated with domestic air travel seat capacity provided. Given the guidance from policy documents and policy makers, the results will improve the understanding of the key parameters of regional passenger aviation services and help to guide policy makers considering regional passenger aviation issues. The outcome of this study would be useful for and guide policy development