Travel Training for NDIS Participants

Travel training teaches a person the skills and confidence to make a particular trip on their own. This lesson explains how it differs from simply transporting someone. Key points: travel training is skill building, so the support is planned to reduce over time; it can cover walking routes, buses, trains, trams and ferries, tickets and travel cards, timetable apps, road safety and asking for help; it suits many people, such as school leavers, new workers and people relearning after an injury; and therapy assistants usually work to a program set by an allied health professional.

Travel training is funded by the NDIS as a capacity building support, but the decisions about a participant's plan belong to the agency. This lesson explains the basics. Key points: the NDIS list of supports includes travel training to build confidence and skills to use public transport safely and independently; the pricing schedule includes skills development and training items that cover public transport training, in the Increased Social and Community Participation and Improved Daily Living categories; transport funding for taxis is a different thing; the NDIS is not responsible for making public transport accessible; and workers deliver and record what is in the service agreement.

A travel training goal belongs to the participant. This lesson explains how to set goals that the person cares about and that everyone can measure. Key points: start with where the person wants to go and why; link the trip to a goal in their plan; start with one route; agree what independent means for this person; write the goal in their words with a realistic timeframe; and share it with family or others only with consent. When family members have different goals, listen respectfully, but the person's own choice leads.

Before you teach a route you need to understand the person's current skills, strengths and needs. This lesson explains what to look for and how to assess respectfully. Key points: look at orientation, road awareness, money and tickets, time and timetables, communication and coping with change; start from the person's strengths; ask the person what they find easy and hard; read their plans and any therapy assessment; talk with family and other supporters only with consent; and never assume skills from a diagnosis.

Learning to travel always involves some risk, and that is part of a full life. This lesson explains dignity of risk and supported decision making in travel training. Key points: the NDIS Practice Standards expect each participant's right to the dignity of risk in decision making to be supported, with help to weigh up benefits and risks when needed; supported decision making means giving information in the person's way, checking understanding, respecting their choice and recording it; and serious concerns are raised with your team leader rather than solved by saying no.

A good risk assessment makes a trip safer without making it smaller. This lesson explains a simple way to assess travel risks with the person. Key points: think about road and traffic, people and places, health and wellbeing, and getting lost or stuck; identify what could go wrong, how likely and how serious it is, and agree controls with the person; choose the least restrictive control that works; write it into the travel plan and review it at each stage; and use location sharing only with the person's informed consent, never secretly.

A trip that looks simple is really a chain of small steps. This lesson explains task analysis and how to teach each step. Key points: task analysis breaks a route into small steps that can each be taught and checked; write the steps for the person's actual route; model a step, then give only as much prompting as the person needs; use visual, gesture and spoken prompts and fade them; be consistent so every worker teaches the same way; and record which steps still need prompts.

A good route plan is simple, checked in advance and comes with a backup for when things go wrong. This lesson explains how to plan it. Key points: choose the simplest route, not always the fastest; check the stops and paths for access and safety; note landmarks and safe places to wait; make a route card in the format the person prefers; and plan with the person what to do if a service does not come, they miss a stop, their phone goes flat or a lift is out of order.

Knowing the accessibility features and concessions that are available helps you plan a trip that works. This lesson covers the basics. Key points: features can include ramps, lifts, tactile ground indicators, announcements, priority seating, help points and accessible journey planning; public transport operators must comply with the national Transport Standards, which were amended in October 2026, but not every stop is fully accessible yet; check lifts and alerts before you go; Companion Card and concession schemes are run by states and territories with their own conditions; and in NSW a companion travels free only when travelling with the cardholder.

Paying for travel and knowing when the service is coming are core travel skills. This lesson covers how to teach them. Key points: each state uses its own travel card, such as Opal, myki or SmartRider, with its own rules for tapping on and off and concessions; practise topping up and checking the balance; keep the person's card and money in their control; never ask for or keep a PIN; use the official journey planner and real time apps from your state transport authority; and always have a paper backup.

Road safety is essential, and it must be taught in a way that respects the person as an adult. This lesson covers the key skills and the right approach. Key points: choose safe places to cross, stop at the kerb, look and listen, wait for the green walking signal at lights and keep checking while crossing; watch for driveways, car parks, turning vehicles, bikes, scooters and quiet electric cars; teach distractions such as phones and headphones; and teach adult to adult, explaining why, practising in real places and praising good decisions.

Most people a traveller meets are kind or simply busy, but some are not. This lesson covers stranger awareness taught respectfully. Key points: teach who are safe people to ask for help, such as transport staff, drivers, help points, shop staff at a counter and police; teach simple personal safety habits; practise saying no and moving away; use role play and social stories with consent; avoid scaring the person or teaching that everyone is dangerous; and be aware that some people have past trauma that affects how this topic feels.

The goal of travel training is for the worker to become unnecessary. This lesson explains how to fade support and measure progress. Key points: support usually fades in stages, from travelling side by side, to sitting apart, to shadowing from a distance, to meeting at the destination; move on when steps are consistent, the person can solve small problems and says they are ready; measure prompts per step, problem solving, the person's own confidence rating and trips made alone; and stepping back a stage when skills slip is normal, not failure.

Session notes show what was delivered, what the person achieved and what comes next. This lesson explains how to write them well. Key points: each note covers the date, time, route and stage, the goal worked on, prompts needed, what went well, problems and how they were solved, the person's own view and the plan for next time; notes are factual, respectful and written soon after the session; they are stored securely; they must match the support claimed; and incidents are also reported through the incident system, not only in the note.

Even with good planning, things can go wrong on a trip. This lesson explains how to respond. Key points: emergencies include a person not arriving or going missing, injury or a medical episode, assault or abuse, and major disruption; for a missing traveller, try to contact them, check agreed meeting points, ask transport staff, tell your team leader at once and call triple zero if the person may be at risk; follow the person's health plans; registered providers must notify the NDIS Commission of reportable incidents, most within 24 hours; and record and review every incident.

This case study follows Jarrah, a 19 year old autistic man who wants to catch the bus to TAFE, and Sofia, the therapy assistant working to his occupational therapist's program. You will make decisions when the first session becomes overwhelming and when his mum asks Sofia not to fade support. Key points: respect the person's signals and adjust the plan; use the therapist's program and data; share progress with family only with consent; and keep the person at the centre of every decision about fading.

This case study follows Mateo, a man who uses a power wheelchair and has memory difficulties after a brain injury, as he learns to travel to his job by tram. You will make decisions when a lift is out of order and when he does not arrive at work on his first solo trip. Key points: check accessibility and alerts before every trip; rely on the agreed backup plan; act and escalate quickly when a traveller is missing; and review the plan with the person afterwards. The lesson ends with the course wrap up and the final assessment.