Students with Disabilities

TO QUALIFY:

To qualify for the Students with Disabilities rebate, students must:

1. have a disability that necessitates transport assistance to and from their school,
2. travel to and/or from school by motor vehicle and/or bus,
3. have been verified and deemed eligible for an Education Adjustment Program (EAP) profile,
4. have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) and transport needs that are identified as being eligible for travel assistance in the IEP,
5. have a Travel Capability Rating of C, D, E or F (click here to view these ratings),
6. have at least one of the impairments listed in the following categories:
   1. Autistic Spectrum Disorder
   2. Hearing Impairment
   3. Intellectual Impairment
   4. Physical Impairment
   5. Social Emotional Disorder
   6. Speech Language Impairment
   7. Vision Impairment
7. comply with the conditions of having an Exceptional Circumstance (please see Section 3.2.5 of the SWD Guidelines).

APPLICATIONS:

Parents/carers of eligible students MUST submit their online application twice a year in:

May for Semester One
October for Semester Two

Receipt of your application is confirmed to you via email.

- LATE APPLICATIONS CANNOT BE ACCEPTED -

PROCESSING:

Once a parent/carer has submitted an application for a student with a disability, NGSTAS will contact the school and request:

1. Confirmation that an Education Adjustment Program (EAP) has been completed
2. Details of the Independent Education Program (IEP) which include an assessment of the student’s Travel Capability Rating.

Further Information:

• If there is more than one child in your family with a disability and you drive them to the same school, only one forward journey and one return journey will attract the travel assistance.  If the students attend different schools, please ensure that you provide clear details of the travel arrangements for each student so that your correct entitlement can be calculated.
• Students who receive assistance through the NGSTAS Students with Disabilities Rebate are not eligible to apply for assistance through the NGSTAS Bus Fare Assistance Program for the same student.
• Any assistance received by you through Queensland Transport will be taken into consideration when calculating your entitlement through the NGSTAS Students with Disabilities Rebate.
• Applicants/carers may be required to prove they have incurred the expenses claimed, therefore it is essential to retain evidence of expenditure, such as receipts and tickets.  Each semester a sample of parents/carers will be selected and asked to provide that evidence.

PAYMENTS:

The rebate for a successful application is normally paid in the following semester.  For example, if you submitted your application in October (for Semester Two), the rebate would generally be paid in Semester One of the following year.  A rebate payment advice will be forwarded to you via email.

GUIDELINES:

The complete version of criteria and conditions applicable to this program can be downloaded by clicking on the following link: SWD Guidelines Nov 2011

Please note the following variation to the Guidelines which comes into effect from 2012:  All refunds of fares for students travelling on Translink services will be based on Go Card concession/ child fares.

TO APPLY:

Please click on the image below to apply for the Students with Disabilities rebate: