A TripAdvisor for access.

Join our movement to create a more inclusive Australia; so that everyone, regardless of their mobility needs, can participate in all the leisure activities that this wonderful country offers.

In the land of the ‘fair go’ you’d think we all have a basic right of access? But right now, many people are isolated and excluded. Following lockdown, everyone relates to this. Imagine if it was forever?

We at the WheelEasy Foundation run an Access Information Web App for these people… AND their families and friends; because it’s not only people with mobility needs that are affected, it’s everyone who spends time with them too, who get stuck – sons and daughters, aunts and uncles, best mates.

Occasionally, from time to time, or every day of their lives, over 8m Australians, or 1 in 3, can’t get out and have the life that lots of us take for granted; a swim at the beach, a bushwalk, a barbecue, a night out, or to see a film etc. That’s around 140,000 Canberrans.

For anyone with mobility needs, the biggest problem of all is often not just physical access, but a lack of access INFORMATION. At the moment, 9 in 10 people find access info difficult to find. It’s scattered all over the web, it’s buried on different sites, it’s often not up-to-date, sometimes inaccurate, or not available at all. Mobility-impaired people and their families and friends can spend hours searching for the info they need, making many phone calls; just to go for a simple day or evening out together.

At present there’s no one place where all this information is gathered, or where people can share what they know with others. So for all those people, we created the WheelEasy Access Information Web App.

It’s like a TripAdvisor for access, a one-stop shop that consolidates accurate, current info on everywhere that you’d expect to go on a day out: cafes, parks, beaches, playgrounds etc.  As well as at home on your PC, it’s designed so you can use it on your mobile when you’re out; so no more researching beforehand, and you can actually see what’s nearby you, be spontaneous and change your mind, just like everyone else.

Quality of information is key. If there’s one thing worse than no info, it’s incorrect, out of date, or misleading info. So, each entry is carefully moderated by people with mobility needs; with lived experience. They’re also specially trained. We’re therefore creating very meaningful work for a group that has always been underemployed. WheelEasy is by users, for users.

We started life in Sydney in 2018. Since then we’ve been growing constantly, and in 2023, we received a grant from Hands across Canberra and the Snow Foundation to start getting Canberra on our map. By October 2024, we already had a staggering 80% of places listed. The challenge now is to keep them updated, and to start compiling ideas for things to do; a new section we’ve introduced; because finding activities that the whole group can do together can be a real headache.