Easy Access Australia is a travel guide for people with a disability or mobility difficulty it is also a good general guide to Australia.

First published in 1995, EAA has been updated providing many more wheelchair and easily accessible transport, accommodation and attraction options to those who want to travel and explore this great country.

According the Darcy research (Anxiety to Access, Tourism NSW 1998), people with a physical disability want to travel more, go to different places, experience new and wonderful environments and spend more on travel. The research found that of the people with a physical disability in NSW (approx 350,000):

• 77% undertake travel,

• they travel on average in a group of four (family, friends and carer),

• they stay away an average of four nights.

• In respect to day trips the research found that 75% of respondents undertook a day trip in the last six months (ie 25% had not taken a day trip in the last six months), and

• The combined market for accessible travel Australia wide is in the order of $720.

The respondents expressed a need for well researched, reliable, credible and detailed information to ensure the anxiety associated with travel planning, (and actual travel) is minimised. Easy Access Australia is a guide written by Bruce Cameron (who has a complete c5/6 spinal injury and uses a wheelchair) which is not only a good read, but aims to meet the needs of travellers with a disability by including information on:

• Most of the travelled areas of each state, for example trip from Sydney to Brisbane and on to Cairns, or Sydney to Melbourne via the coast, or Victoria's Yarra Valley, or exploring Adelaide SA, or Tree Top walking in WA, or a tour of Uluru with an Aboriginal guide and even obtaining a scuba diving qualification (yes a person with a disability can become qualified to dive), these are just a few options,

• Accessible transport options, for example you can explore a capital city or get to the see the whales at Hervey Bay by using public transport!

• Around 600 accessible accommodation options, including about 300 bathroom floorplans plus 300 others to consider. Options cover Hotels, Motels, Guest Houses, B&B's, Backpackers (yes there are a few good ones) and caravan parks (many provide great accessible vans),

• Nearly all of Australia's major tourist attractions are included (and many smaller interesting side trips as well),

• In addition, contact information is provided for hospitals, equipment hire, arranging attendant care, local tour operators, hiring an accessible vehicle and of course where to get a good feed!

EAA is not a directory or alphabetic listing, it is a fully fledged travel guide for any one with some mobility limitation from a wheelchair user, amputees, seniors who have had heart trouble or arthritis or even a hip, knee or ankle operation and has been used by families looking for easy access for prams and pushers.

In updating the guide Bruce travelled on his own through central NSW to Brisbane before flying to the Northern Territory. Upon returning to Brisbane he travelled drove to Cairns and the Daintree stopping at key travel centres like Hervey Bay, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Mackay, The Whitsundays and Townsville. The return journey saw him drive almost the length of the Queensland and NSW Coasts before his update work in Victoria. Update assistance in Tasmania, South and Western Australia was provided by experts in those states. The whole update process took about 16 months.

This work would not have been achieved without the assistance of Tourism NSW, Tourism Queensland, Northern Territory Tourist Commission, Ansett and a few state based sponsors. As a gesture of just how accessible and friendly Australia is Bruce has provided approx 1200 copies of the guide to incoming wheelchair competitors at the Paralympics. Bruce was a guest of SPOC at the Paralympic Village for a book signing and general chat to paralympians and was featured in the paralympic village daily newspaper.

Bruce's favourite phrase when describing Australia, "Wherever you are in Australia, you're in paradise!"

Easy Access Australia 512 Pages, $27.45 (Incl GST) Available from all good bookstores, just quote ISBN 0-9577510-1-X, or distributed by Hema Maps (07 3340 0030). Contact Bruce in Sydney on Fax 61 3 9853 9000 or mobile 0407 317 397 or email bruceeaa@vicnet.net.au or via PO Box 218 Kew Vic 3101. For more information, maps etc, please click here. To download a copy of "Accessing Melbourne", CLICK HERE (3.4Mb)