Beach Access in Australia.

Australia has arguably one of the most prominent and prolific beach cultures in the world. With some 10,685 beaches nationwide, and many ranked amongst the world’s most beautiful destinations. Yet the sand and the beach are possibly the most challenging and inaccessible place for a wheelchair user. In fact, only 31 beaches in Australia are accessible when there are beach mats and beach wheelchairs available at the site. This means that only 0.2% of Australian beaches accessible and inclusive... 0.2%!

Because of this, many individuals who have limited mobility or a physical disability do not consider the beach as a possible destination because of the inaccessibility. Even worse I have personally witnessed and seen so many wheelchair users just sitting and watching the beach fun from the concrete path. We’ve even heard of others dragging themselves across the sand to go for a surf.

At Gecko Traxx we think it is totally unacceptable and we are on a mission to solve this problem!

It is slowly getting better, and organisations like Accessible Beaches Australia are doing some amazing work in improving beach access – however, many iconic Australian places are still not accessible. Bondi Beach in Sydney is only currently in the process of being accessible.

Our goals are to make a day at the beach or a trip to the coast something that wheelchair users look forward to and not have to worry about matters such as:

“Will there be a beach wheelchair at that beach?”

“Will there be a beach access mat available?”

“Oh no, it's a Tuesday and the beach mat is only available on weekends.”

“I don’t want to be limited by just a few beaches”

Now, just imagine if there was a way that you could access the beach and other off-road terrains without needing a different wheelchair, beach mat or even modifications to your wheelchair? Imagine if you can be able to easily make spontaneous decisions to get off-road and explore.

Well, there is… watch this space!

Follow along with our development of Gecko Traxx at www.geckotraxx.com/blog

- Ryan Tilley

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#design #disability #innovation #assistivetechnology #mobility