To maintain the reliability and safety of community transport services, important changes to point to point transport legislation for Community Transport Organisations (CTOs) will come into effect on 1 July 2025.
Community Transport Organisations providing passenger services in vehicles of 12 seats or less (including the driver), must become authorised by the Point to Point Transport Commissioner prior to 1 July 2025 to continue their operations on and after this date.
Further, Transport for NSW will no longer administer the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) funding and all CHSP subcontracting arrangements with Transport for NSW will cease from 30 June 2025. Affected providers should contact the Department of Health and Aged Care on chspprogram@health.gov.au with questions about the changes to funding.
Who does this apply to?
Providers of community transport passenger services will find themselves in one of the following categories:
1. Existing community transport providers, who are already authorised with the Point to Point Transport Commissioner, and currently provide services in vehicles with 12 seats or less:
- No action regarding your authorisation is required for community transport providers who already hold an authorisation as a booking service provider from the Point to Point Transport Commissioner
- However, the safety obligations of your authorisation will now extend to apply to the services that were previously contracted through Transport for NSW which are now directly funded by the Commonwealth.
2. Existing community transport providers, who are already authorised, and provide services in vehicles with more than 12 seats:
- There is no change to your authorisation, or the conditions of your authorisation.
3. Community transport providers who are supported by Commonwealth funding and do not yet hold any authorisation from the Point to Point Transport Commissioner must now become authorised before 1 July 2025:
- It is recommended you start your authorisation application in a timely manner.
You will have to obtain an authorisation from the Point to Point Transport Commissioner and comply with conditions of authorisation. This includes compliance with point to point transport law, including safety standards, record keeping and the Passenger Service Levy.
An exemption from the Passenger Service Levy (PSL) has been confirmed for community transport providers for journeys made under the Commonwealth Home Support Program Community Transport Service. This exemption applies from 2 years - from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2027.
Further information can be found in the Point to Point Transport (Community Transport Passenger Service Levy Exemption) Order 2025.
Further information
You can find further information, including factsheets and more on our website or by visiting the Learning Centre or calling the Industry Contact Centre on 131 727.