The Taxi Subsidy Scheme (TSS) subsidises taxi travel—half of the total fare, up to a maximum of $30 per trip—for people with severe disabilities.
TSS pays half the value of a member's taxi fare, up to a maximum fare of $60. There is no limit on the number of taxi journeys a member may take to attract the subsidy. The subsidy is paid to taxi drivers—members have no additional costs.
TSS membership lasts for a maximum of 5 years. To extend your membership, you must reapply before the expiry date.
If you have a temporary disability, 6 to 12 month memberships are available.
The Queensland Government has confirmed that eligible National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants can continue to access the TSS until appropriate transport support arrangements are in place, up to 31 October 2025.
The Queensland Government is focused on ensuring appropriate transport support arrangements are in place for NDIS-eligible TSS members and will continue to work with the Commonwealth to address this matter.
To be eligible you must be a permanent resident of Queensland and fully meet at least 1 of the 6 eligibility criteria listed below:
A Lift Payment of $25 (inclusive of GST), as a driver incentive, applies for each eligible Wheelchair Accessible Taxi (WAT) trip involving transportation of a TSS member who is required to travel in a wheelchair. The Lift Payment is not part of the taxi fare so there is no additional cost to a TSS member.
On Christmas Day (25 December) each year, the Lift Payment is doubled to $50 per eligible trip.
Journeys eligible for the Lift Payment must meet each of the following requirements:
Lift Payments are designed to improve service provision to nominated members of the community and will help ensure personalised transport services remain accessible to people with disabilities. As an incentive for WAT drivers to undertake work for people who rely on wheelchairs to travel, the whole $25 or $50 Lift Payment must be paid to the taxi driver who provided the service in a WAT.
Passengers should note that Lift Payments can only be received by designated vehicles in the taxi industry. Lift Payments are not available to other personalised transport such as booked hire services (e.g. Uber).
A vehicle must meet special requirements to be licensed as a Wheelchair Accessible Taxi Service (WAT) in Queensland.
A WAT driver must give preference to the carriage of people travelling in a wheelchair. At any other time the vehicle can be used to provide a taxi service for the carriage of any public passenger.
To enable taxi booking companies to reconcile and correctly distribute Lift Payments, a booking must be recorded for each journey on their relevant booking system.
Drivers are still eligible for the Lift Payment for an eligible journey that commences from a taxi rank or is hailed from the street. To receive the payment, the driver must call their booking company immediately and provide the passenger’s name and TSS membership details to ensure the job is ‘booked’ into their booking system.
A booking fee must not be applied to Lift Payment journeys commencing from a rank or hailed from the street.
The Lift Payment is not added onto a TSS member’s fare.
The incentive is paid separately through the same process used for TSS payments, i.e. either paid directly to the booking company responsible for distributing the payments to operators or, in exempt areas, to operators or owners directly. Operators must pass on the entire $25 or $50 Lift Payment to the relevant driver.
To attract the TSS subsidy payment, a fare must be determined by the taximeter.
Any passenger can be accompanied by an assistance animal if required.
To find out more about the Taxi Subsidy Scheme and Lift Payment, call the Department of Transport and Main Roads on 1300 134 755.
For help with NDIS transport funding, view the NDIS website or call 1800 800 110. You can also speak with the TSS team on 1300 134 755.
Last updated: 8 July 2024