Man in a wheelchai looking up at the canopy of the Daintree Rainforest along an accessible path in Queensland © Tourism and Events Queensland

Accessible travel around Australia

Australia is for everyone. Get tips on travelling in Australia with a disability and learn how to make your trip unforgettable.

Travelling in Australia with limited mobility

You’ll find there are plenty of accessible transport options throughout Australia for people using mobility devices. Trains, buses and ferries across the country have features like wide aisles and ramps. Australian airports offer a range of accessible support options.

Plan ahead with state-specific mobility information for travelling around the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria. There are also great accessible resources for getting around Sydney, Perth and Melbourne.

Road trips around Australia are spectacular, and travelling with a disability won’t stop you from enjoying the open road. You can hire wheelchair-accessible vehicles from companies like Wheelaway, or enquire with most major car hire companies.

Most accommodation providers across Australia cater to guests with mobility needs. You can also search for accessible-friendly stays with the Accessible Accommodation tool. The online holiday property directory Hosting with Heart is committed to inclusivity and accessibility, with comprehensive filters allowing guests to search for specific requirements.

Australia offers incredible accessible experiences for travellers who are capable of assisted walking as well as independent wheelchair users and assisted wheelchair users.

There are countless beautiful wheelchair-accessible trails across Australia, and you can start exploring them using AllTrails’ wheelchair-friendly trail guide. You can get amongst the country's laid-back beach culture by using the Accessible Beaches directory. There are also wide, level pathways and accessible facilities at many of Australia’s icons to ensure you can tick off the bucket list moments, and you’ll find that most museums, galleries, parks and gardens are accessible for those with limited mobility.

Make trip planning easier with holiday providers like Amplify Accessible Travel Specialists, Melbourne-based TravAbility and Canberra-based GetAboutAble. Australia in Style offers a range of wheelchair-accessible tours in Sydney and surrounds. Cairns-based Out There Travel Care can provide a qualified carer to accompany you as you explore the magical Great Barrier Reef.

Most Australian capital cities provide a mobility map displaying useful information such as disabled parking zones and spaces with steep gradients – download a map from the official tourism website for each city. You can also use the National Public Toilet Map to find wheelchair-accessible toilets across Australia. Travellers with high support needs can also access Changing Places toilets in major cities around the country.

Travelling in Australia with blindness or low-vision

Australia's destinations provide a number of measures to help travellers who are blind or have low vision navigate safely. Most public transport facilities across Australia use tactile tiles and Braille signs to assist travellers with vision impairment, and key announcements are made over speakers at most major train stations. Pedestrian signals across the country are accompanied by Braille signs and a beeping sound to indicate when it’s safe to cross.

Australian airports offer a range of accessible support options. If you plan to travel with a service animal, it’s important to note that Australia has strict biosecurity laws and requires all assistance dogs to undergo quarantine before entering the country.

Many cultural institutions offer auditory and sensory tours of their collections, such as the Art Gallery of New South Wales’s In Touch at the Gallery tour in Sydney and the National Gallery of Australia’s Art by Description initiative in Canberra. The small-group tour operator Cocky Guides specialises in creating multi-sensory adventures for travellers who are blind or have low vision.

Make the most of your travels around Australia by downloading the free Vacayit app. Use the app to listen to immersive audio guides for selected destinations across Australia, from Tasmania to the Great Barrier Reef and beyond.

Australia’s banknotes feature tactile cues to help people who are blind or have low vision recognise each denomination: the $5 note has one raised bump, with two bumps on a $10 note, and three, four and five bumps on the $20, $50 and $100 notes respectively.

Travelling in Australia with deafness or hard of hearing

Australian airports offer a range of accessible support options to assist you in your journey. You’ll also find that audio induction loop systems are used widely across Australia, which transmit sounds and announcements straight to your hearing aids – look for the International Deafness Symbol or Hearing Loop sign at customer service counters.

Many cultural institutions across the country offer guides, tours and commentary using Auslan, or Australian Sign Language. Some venues, including the iconic Sydney Opera House and the National Gallery of Victoria, offer services to assist people who are deaf or hard of hearing. They may offer captioned performances or assistive listening systems.

Visitors from the United Kingdom will find Auslan is similar to British Sign Language. Travellers from the United States, however, will find Auslan is quite different to American Sign Language.

Travelling in Australia with sensory sensitivities

Australian airports offer a range of accessible support options. Visitors with sensory sensitivities or neurological processing difficulties can purchase a Hidden Disabilities Sunflower lanyard or wristband to voluntarily share that they have a hidden disability. Many airports have adopted the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program, with staff at the international airports in Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Gold Coast, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney trained in assisting travellers with hidden disabilities.

A number of cultural institutions and attractions around the country cater to guests with sensory sensitivities. In Melbourne, visit the National Gallery of Victoria, the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Scienceworks. In Sydney, don’t miss the Australian Museum, Australian National Maritime Museum, the Sydney Opera House and Taronga Zoo.

Phillip Island – a pristine haven of Australian wildlife about two hours from Melbourne by car – is an inclusive destination catering to guests with sensory sensitivities. Visitors can experience iconic attractions such as the Koala Conservation Reserve and the nightly Penguin Parade in a reduced-stimulus environment.

If you or someone you’re travelling with has autism, you can order an Autism Alert card before you travel. The card is worn to identify an individual's needs and alert others to situations where they may require patience or support.