Aviation accessibility

Developing Aviation-specific Disability Standards

The Australian Government wants to make sure air travel is accessible for people with disability.

We have heard about the barriers people with disability have when travelling by air through:

In August 2024, the Government released the Aviation White Paper with a commitment to making sure the aviation sector protects the rights of people with disability. This includes creating new aviation-specific disability standards (Aviation Disability Standards). These standards would be a schedule to the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (the Transport Standards). The Transport Standards come under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.

Creating new Aviation Disability Standards builds on reforms to the Transport Standards. These reforms will introduce new requirements in areas like:

  • staff training
  • wayfinding
  • giving people accessible information.

You can read more about the reforms at Reform of the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (Transport Standards).

What will be covered by the new Aviation Disability Standards?

As outlined in the Aviation White Paper, the new Aviation Disability Standards will set out responsibilities for airlines and airports. This will make sure they coordinate their services to facilitate the journey of passengers with disability.

Through the co-design process we will also:

  • Consider requiring airlines to offer passenger assistance profiles. This will let passengers who need assistance to easily let the airlines know, ahead of time.
  • Consider options to ban airline policies that limit the number of passengers on a flight who need assistance except where there is a clear and demonstrated aviation safety reason.
  • Produce a set of user guides. These will explain:
    • the legal rights of passengers
    • the obligations of airlines and airports under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the new Aviation Disability Standards.

The government will publicly report how airlines and airports are meeting the new standards once the new requirements are in place.

Developing the Aviation Disability Standards through a co-design process

Solutions to accessibility issues in air travel are being developed for the new Aviation Disability Standards through a co-design process with people with disability.

The Aviation Accessibility Steering Committee (the Steering Committee) has been guiding the work. Representatives from the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO) and People with Disability Australia (PWDA) are co-chairs of this steering committee.

Input is also being gathered from the aviation industry, technical and other experts as required, ahead of broad public consultation on options for the new standards later in 2025.

Development stages include:

  • Co-design workshops—held with people with disability to identify ways in which the accessibility of air travel can be improved.
  • Consultation and further input—with additional stakeholders in the disability community, airlines, airports, and aviation industry peak bodies.
  • Development of options for the new standards—the Aviation Accessibility Steering Committee to take input from co-design workshops to draft proposals for further consultation.
  • Formal public input on options for the new standards—invited through a consultation process.
  • Following the public consultation process—recommendations on the new standards provided to government for consideration and decision.
  • Exposure Draft of standards—released for public feedback.
  • Legislation tabled in parliament—once finalised the updated legislation will be tabled in parliament. Following this process, the Aviation Disability Standards will take effect.

In addition, user guides will be developed through a co-design process with people with disability to ensure passengers are clear on the accessibility obligations of airlines and airports.

Co-design workshops with people with disability

Three co-design workshops with people with disability were held in July and August 2025. Topics of the workshops were based on different stages of the aviation passenger journey, namely:

  • Workshop 1: Journey planning
  • Workshop 2: Accessibility onboard the aircraft
  • Workshop 3: Accessibility through an airport.

During the co-design workshops, participants suggested solutions to address the barriers encountered by people with disability during air travel. Drawing on these, the department and its co-design partners have identified 4 guiding principles have been identified to inform the development of more accessible practices across the aviation industry:

  • Include people with disability in the design of any policy, process or infrastructure impacting air travel experience.
  • Be consistent so that passengers know what services and requirements they can expect at each airport and from each airline, every time they travel.
  • Staff training is critical for all staff, including contractors and passenger screening personnel. Workshop participants agreed that regular, high quality training in disability awareness and consistent service delivery—designed and delivered by people with disability—should be mandatory.
  • Be transparent to ensure policies, procedures and other information impacting a passenger's travel journey is readily available and provided in a range of accessible formats. Include clear information on support available for passengers requiring assistance, how passengers can expect this service to be delivered, and who is responsible.

Detailed summaries from the 3 workshops and a statement from the co-design partners can be found at the links below:

Next steps

A consultation paper which outlines different options for the new standards is planned for public release in late 2025. Further updates on this consultation will be provided on this web page.

Frequently Asked Questions

People with lived experience of disability, representatives from Disability Representative Organisations and other disability advocacy organisations are developing ideas for new requirements to make air travel more accessible.

The co-design process is being overseen by the Aviation Accessibility Steering Committee.

A number of principles have been adopted to guide the co-design process to develop new standards:

  • Inclusive—with broad representation accounting for diverse experiences of people with disability.
  • Participative—engaging participants as partners throughout the co-design process.
  • Respectful—valuing input from all participants, and employing culturally sensitive methods.
  • Iterative—focusing on improving the co-design process as we go along.
  • Outcomes focused—to achieve change and improve results.

After the announcement of the Aviation White Paper in 2024, the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts (the department) was approached by disability representative organisations to propose a co-design process to develop new national standards for aviation accessibility.

To guide the process, the Aviation Accessibility Steering Committee (the Steering Committee) was formed.  The steering committee is co-chaired by representatives from Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO) and People with Disability Australia (PWDA). Other members include legal advocacy organisation, the Justice and Equity Centre (JEC), and relevant Australian Government departments. See list of members below.

The Steering Committee is leading work on developing options for the new aviation-specific disability standards to improve accessible air travel for people with disability, ahead of broad community consultation later in 2025.

The Steering Committee is co-designing the options in partnership with people with disability and their representatives, and with input from the aviation industry, technical and other experts as required.

The Steering Committee consists of 7 members, including:

  • Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO) (Aviation Co-design partner and steering committee co-chair)
  • People with Disability Australia (PWDA) (Aviation Co-design partner and steering committee co‑chair)
  • Justice and Equity Centre (JEC) (Aviation Co-design partner)
  • Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts (co-chair)
  • Australian Human Rights Commission (member)
  • Attorney General's Department (member)
  • Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (observer).

The Justice and Equity Centre has been selected as a member of the Steering Committee given its legal expertise and strong advocacy for public interest outcomes, including access for people with disability to essential services such as public transport. The JEC provided significant input to development of the Aviation White Paper on behalf of the disability community.

The Steering Committee endorsed the following set of guiding principles to assist in recruiting participants for the co-design workshops:

  • Principle 1: Lived experience/interest in air travel
    People with disability who have first-hand experience with air travel, as well as those who wish to travel by air but have faced barriers preventing them from doing so.
  • Principle 2: Diverse representation
    • A group that reflects the diversity of the disability community.
    • Include people from a wide range of disability types, cultural backgrounds (including First Nations peoples), gender identities, and age groups, as well as valuing the perspectives of families, carers, and disability organisations.
  • Principle 3: Geographic location
    Participants represent the varied experiences of air travel across Australia, including people from major cities, regional communities, and different states and territories.

Based on the above principles, participants include:

  • representatives of Disability Representative Organisations
  • individuals with lived experience of disability who were nominated by an organisation
  • other individuals attending independently who have lived experience of disability.

The number of workshop participants was limited in order to allow for a deep and detailed exploration of options for the standards. Follow up interviews and engagement with other stakeholders will continue to occur ahead of broader public consultation on options for the standards.

Airlines, airports and the broader aviation industry are not part of the co-design process, but are being engaged and consulted throughout the process to develop the new aviation-specific disability standards.

There has been a dedicated workshop with the aviation industry following the 3 co-design workshops, to ensure technical information informs the design of the new requirements.

We will continue to consult with aviation industry peak bodies and invite formal input from the aviation industry through the public consultation process.

The government will review and publicly report on compliance with the new standards.

Airlines and airports already have obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) and specific requirements under the existing Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002. The new Aviation Disability Standards will make it easier for airlines and airports to comply with the DDA, by providing greater certainty on their existing obligations.

The DDA is primarily enforced through a complaint-based system, handled through the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).

If someone believes they have experienced discrimination on the basis of disability in an area covered by the DDA, a complaint can be lodged through the AHRC. The AHRC will investigate the complaint and try to resolve it by conciliation. If not resolved through this process, a complainant can take the complaint to the Federal Court of Australia or the Federal Circuit Court.

See Complaints under the Disability Discrimination Act on the AHRC website for more information.

In submissions to the Aviation White Paper, the Transport Standards review, and the Disability Royal Commission, people with disability emphasised the importance of having a platform to provide advice on government policy for public transport accessibility. The Aviation White Paper noted that the government will investigate options to establish a consultation platform.

Creation of any new platform will need to consider links to the former AAF, which has not met since the Aviation White Paper's release, and the lessons learned from that consultation mechanism.

In the meantime, the government's immediate focus for improving access to aviation for people with disability is the co-design of the new standards.

How do I get more information about the new Aviation Disability Standards?

Regular progress updates on the co-design process will be provided on this page.

For more information, please get in touch with the Aviation Accessibility team: AviationAccessibility@infrastructure.gov.au.

For more information on the Aviation White Paper accessibility initiatives, visit Aviation White Paper—Towards 2050.

How can I have input?

Information and suggestions for making air travel more accessible for people with disability will help in drafting the new standards.

To share your ideas, please email us at AviationAccessibility@infrastructure.gov.au.

If you prefer a phone call or another way of providing input, please let us know.

All members of the public will be invited to comment on draft options for the new standards later in 2025.