Zoe Moffatt
With summer just around the corner, Australians around the country are sitting down to plan their next holiday, take leave from work and hopefully not have their flight cancelled.
A local disability services and support organisation is helping make travel accessible for all residents through its latest travel initiative.
Distinctive Options Travel (DO Travel) launched this year after five preliminary trips in 2022, and is dedicated to opening up the world for people with disabilities.
Business development manager Paul Pearman said anyone who requires support to go on holiday can use the provider, in particular participants on the National Disability Insurance (NDIS) Scheme.
“NDIS funds enable DO Travel to provide the support staff to travel with them,” he said. “Support can be provided on a one on one basis or there may be one support person for a small group.
“Some people have been to the Gold Coast for a winter break with a one to one support worker, while others have joined our group expeditions.
“We take the time to understand the barriers people have faced in the past and will do everything possible to make sure we are able to provide the support required before finalising your travel.”
Mr Pearman said they have noticed a demand for supported holidays and will be hiring more staff so they can offer a variety of new holidays.
“We recently supported a group of fun loving participants to go on a Queensland cruise to Moreton Island out of Sydney… We have also ran a three day local trip to Ballarat and Sovereign Hill.
“People with disabilities have dreams of travel yet may not have the resources available to them to conceptualise or complete the trip.”
Mr Pearman said the service is open to any participants on the NDIS scheme, no matter where they live. Distinctive Options has centres operating in Brimbank, Sunbury, Macedon Ranges and Bendigo.
