Transport Consortium

The Gold Coast Home and Community Care (HACC) Transport Consortium has been in operation for five years after replacing what was once a small transport service help line and referral service. The HACC project is currently delivered via its auspice, Volunteering Gold Coast and is Australia’s first and only community transport consortium.

This Consortium was formed to achieve the objectives to provide a comprehensive, flexible, innovative and responsive range of transport service options across the Gold Coast for frail aged persons, younger people with disabilities and their carers. It provides extensive planning to avoid duplication whilst ensuring flexibility and meeting the true needs of the client. The Consortium is currently comprised of 16 members - some who are funded to service HACC clients while others have clients that are eligible for HACC services.

By pooling an array of community transport services the Consortium can make decisions on the distribution of HACC funding in a timely manner. This then maximises the use of human and physical resources including vehicles and equipment. Members source funding allocated on a priority needs basis for a range of transport options that will benefit the Gold Coast’s HACC community. This is facilitated via an application process whereby a panel receives applications for funding and then reviews each application based on a scoring system.

Members of the Consortium meet every two months to monitor the progress of the Consortium. The Consortium provides funding in the form of bus and driver hours, taxi farecards, and volunteer driver subsidies. The Consortium is underpinned via a Compact that enables each member to attend the meetings and appreciate the context of the Consortium. Each member is also required to sign off on a Service Agreement that outlines service delivery outputs and reporting requirements.