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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-07-04 Daily Xml
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Push Adventures

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (14:59): My question is for the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment. Can the minister update the chamber on the wonderful work which Push Adventures is undertaking in the inclusive tourism space?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:59): I thank the honourable member for his question and his interest in tourism but, in particular, this particular area. Yesterday, I met with Push Adventures, who are experts in the accessible, inclusive tourism space. Some would think that this is a niche market but it is not just focused on people with a physical disability; it is people with parents, with prams and the elderly with walking aids. It is important also that it is not just about travel for people who have access needs, but it is also for the family and friends of those people travelling alongside.

I am reminded of the beach access mat that the member for Bright at the time introduced down on the beach to allow people with a disability to get down to the water's edge. I think it has been a particularly wonderful revelation to allow some people for the first time in many years—in fact, for a couple with whom I met it has been 20 years since their family has been able to go the beach and enjoy it together.

Push Adventures is a South Australian business founded in 2014 by husband and wife team, Scott and Clair Crowley, and they have done such a great deal in a very short time. They have introduced an inaugural Excellence in Accessible Tourism Award into the state award program, and it is the first time for any Australian state or territory. They have worked with over 50 operators to improve their accessibility, including projects supported by the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu RDA.

Recently, on returning from one of the 'meet the minister' events on Kangaroo Island, I went to Deep Creek National Park, the intersection of the Heysen Trail, where we had a look at the very first stage of a part of the trail there—well, not the first part of the trail, but a part of it on the trail, not the trail itself—where we looked at the opportunities for providing some disability and accessibility improvements to that trail, which really a lot of us take for granted. We have tremendous natural assets in South Australia that we market to the world from a tourism point of view and, sadly, unfortunately, sometimes they are not accessible to the whole community. It certainly enlightened me to the opportunities that we can provide to everybody in our community.

The Crowley's have also worked with the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse, which members would understand is a national platform for digital tourism information on Australia, and they want the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse to mandate accessibility checkboxes for thousands of listings on the ATDW website. In line with this, they have launched The Good Scout Travel Co. for accessible travel planning, a platform where people who have access needs and travel companions, and want to come on an Australian holiday or a South Australian holiday, can actually go onto that website and it reduces a massive amount of time to be able to check whether the facilities or the place that they are going to has the sort of accessibility that they need for their family, and it also takes the stress out of the planning of those particular holidays.

Listings on ATDW, which factor high on the accessibility scale, can be pulled onto The Good Scout as a portal to deliver options for many tourists with additional access needs. These are people who don't have the options in their travel bookings, so I think it is very important that we look to do this nationally. One of the challenges for our tourism sector is understanding accessibility needs so that their listings can accurately reflect the accessibility. Push's big picture is to work towards a national accreditation program, and our understanding is that it will be the first in the world if we can have that in this nation. They are doing many great things such as implementing an adaptive equipment hire scheme so that people can participate and explore all corners of our great state.

My commitment to Push Adventures is that I will be working to get inclusive tourism onto the next agenda of the national Tourism Ministers' Meetings, and we hope we can progress it at that level. Push is doing great things for communities, for individuals who want to travel with greater freedom and confidence, and for businesses and the economy. In fact, it is an all-round good news story and I applaud Push Adventures for the work they are doing.

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