CTO welcomes Kiki Paul as our new CEO

CTO welcomes Kiki Paul as our new CEO

The CTO is excited to welcome Kiki Paul, GAICD to the role of Chief Executive Officer!

Kiki comes to us from Go Gentle Australia where she played a pivotal role in achieving historic legislative change across Australia. Under her leadership as CEO, Go Gentle was instrumental in passing voluntary assisted dying laws in all six states, while building a substantial national following and establishing itself as a trusted voice on end-of-life choices.

With a background in financial services and a Graduate of the AICD Company Directors course, Kiki brings a wealth of executive experience in the not-for-profit sector with strong governance and financial management expertise.
She currently serves on multiple NFP boards including Chairing the Australian Online Giving Foundation, and continues as a non-executive director of Go Gentle Australia.

Reflecting on her appointment, Kiki said, “Access to transport is fundamental to independence and community participation. I am excited to lead the CTO and its dedicated team, working alongside our members and partners to enhance and expand community transport services, ensuring that Community Transport remains accessible, efficient, and responsive to those who need it most.”

Please join us in giving Kiki a warm welcome!

Join us for our Engage 2025 Conference!

Join us for our Engage 2025 Conference!

Join us in beautiful Orange NSW for our
Engage 2025 Conference.

We are delighted to be holding our annual conference in Orange NSW from 28-29 October this year and look forward to embracing our theme by ENGAGING in robust and impactful ways with our speakers, sponsors, and each other.

With pivotal changes in disability and aged care reform, alongside a strong push for sustainability and a shifting demographic landscape – there has never been a more critical time for our industry to come together, engage, and shape a future for transport inclusion.

As the largest community transport conference in Australia, our event will once again bring together leading industry experts, government decision makers, major stakeholders, and service providers to foster meaningful dialogue about the changes and how they will affect our members and their communities.

Topics will include Aged Care regulatory changes and their impact, latest innovations and fresh approaches to service delivery, and strategies to enhance access to transport for disadvantaged and marginalised communities.

Our Sponsor Zone will be even more integral to the conference sessions than ever before, bringing together industry partners to showcase the latest solutions that enhance business productivity and improve customer experiences.

The conference also provides a wonderful opportunity to experience the beauty of Orange and this glorious corner of regional NSW. 

Discover more here!

CTO releases Position Statement on the incoming Aged Care Reforms

CTO releases Position Statement on the incoming Aged Care Reforms

The upcoming reform of in home aged care currently affects over 1 million Australians, their carers, loved ones and families but ultimately,  it will affect us all. We are all ageing… some of us access these supports already and many of us will need assistance in the future.
Access to transport sits at the heart of a life lived with independence, self determination, and respect.
This is not about more federal funding – it is about spending federal funding right.
We have one opportunity to get this right and the time is now.
Our full position statement is here, we encourage you to read it and share it.
State Election 2023 – Call to Action – Inclusive Transport for ALL

State Election 2023 – Call to Action – Inclusive Transport for ALL

The CTO is calling on the incoming government to implement the following four key initiatives: 

  • That Government subsidised transport be made exempt from the Point-to-Point Passenger Levy.
  • That Community transport be deemed eligible for the Taxi Subsidy Scheme.
  • That the Community Transport Program (CTP) funding program must be expanded to include transport for employment and education purposes, and
  • That the Older Persons Mobility Plan must be reviewed with a focus on promoting a human-centric transport experience. It must recognise the expanded role that supported transport can have in maintaining independence, self-determination, and economic mobility.

If you would like to be involved in this call to action, simply download our two Position Statements, a template letter to local members and a template media release you can adapt to send to your local members and media outlets in the lead up to the election. 

Grateful accident victim’s quest to find his heroes leads him to the team at RWCTG

Grateful accident victim’s quest to find his heroes leads him to the team at RWCTG

A few months ago, an unsuspecting driver named Frank was heading south west on the M5 just after the tunnel underneath the runway at Mascot when a truck alongside him moved into his lane and struck his vehicle. Frank’s vehicle spun around, struck the guard rail and ended sideways in front of the truck which then ‘T boned’ the driver’s side.

 A community transport vehicle, full of clients on a social trip, witnessed the accident and immediately stopped to render assistance to Frank. The bus driver and bus assistant  helped Frank out of his vehicle and moved the car to a safer place, then helped Frank back into the community bus for comfort and stayed with him until emergency services arrived.

 Frank was finally taken away in an ambulance with a broken sternum and the very shaken community transport crew and passengers continued on their way. They all thought that was the last they’d heard from Frank until last week when Frank walked in to the office of Randwick Waverly Community Transport (RWCTG) looking for the people who had helped him.

He had already been to five different Community Transport offices so he was relieved and delighted when he finally found his heroes, bus driver Steve and bus assistant Angie at RWCTG! Frank was very grateful that Steve and Angie had taken the time to stop and assist him at the scene of the accident.

Thankfully, Frank has made a full recovery and we thank him for making the effort to personally thank his rescuers. We also want to thank Steve and Angie for the care and support they showed Frank and for the constant care and support they show our customers every day.

 

Philanthropist and activist Dan Pallotta keeps inspiring with two new thought provoking songs

Philanthropist and activist Dan Pallotta keeps inspiring with two new thought provoking songs

Anyone who was at our 2019 conference will likely never forget the inspirational talk from famous American philanthropist and activist Dan Pallotta.

His thoughts on how the non-profit community has the potential to “change the world” left us with a renewed sense of empowerment, purpose and hope. 

A lot has changed in the world over the past three years since then and not necessarily in ways many of us would hope for, but Dan has continued his undying dedication to changing the way the world thinks about giving, one talk at a time.

A man of many talents, Dan has also written a new book called ‘ The Everyday Philanthropist – A Better Way to Make a Better World ’ and in his spare time, has released two thought provoking singles and music videos – ‘Charity Town’, released just last month, is inspired by the countless US towns that have fallen on hard times in recent years. “This song is about the picture and the people left behind when the future has moved on,” said Dan.

Dan’s other powerful song is simply titled ‘John F Kennedy’ and is best described by Dan himself: “The song is about a dream I had several years ago in which I came down a flight of stairs and saw John Kennedy lying on a table about to die. Carl Jung always said that the characters in your dreams are actually a part of yourself. So it’s not so much a song literally about John F. Kennedy as it is about a part of myself that had been obsessed with the need to achieve something big in order to feel self-actualised, and about the liberation that came from the death of that obsession.”

Sit back and take a listen when you have a moment: ‘Charity Town’ | ‘John F Kennedy’

And you can learn more about Dan Pallotta and his inspirational work at danpallotta.com

Dan’s books: ‘Charity Case – How the Non-Profit Community can stand up for itself and really change the world’ and
‘Uncharitable – How Restraints on Non-Profits undermines their potential’
are available on Dan’s website or via most book retailers. 

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