Transport Connections - It's more than just transport..

"It's about people being able to travel to a job, a doctor, a class or visit a friend where it was too hard before.  Transport Connections inspires local partnerships to find new ways to make participating in community life easier for people in rural, regional and outer metropolitan areas who have limited transport options".

Southern Mallee Transport Connections Partnership

The Southern Mallee Transport Connections Partnership (SMTCP) consists of eleven partner organisations from the three outer regional and remote municipalities of Buloke, Gannawarra and Swan Hill in north-west Victoria.  The SMTCP’s role is to better coordinate existing transport services and/or to develop innovative transport solutions for the sub-region.  The Partnership, therefore, works closely with all 29 townships that make up the project area, in order to better understand the local transport needs, and to develop effective transport solutions.  The Transport Connections Program is funded through the Victorian Government's Transport Connections Program, a cross government initiative to help communities work together to improve local transport.

The Southern Mallee Sub-Region

The combined population of the Buloke, Gannawarra and Swan Hill sub-region (known as the southern mallee) totals 39,085, which accounts for only .85% of the total population of Victoria.  There are approximately 29 small townships located in the project area, which are dispersed across the sub-region, with all townships geographically isolated from larger regional centres and cities, and from each other.  Most of the project area is aged and undergoing population decline, and current infrastructure and services are extremely limited.

Access to most specialist services and shops requires a lengthy car, train or bus ride, as well as overnight accommodation in many cases. Social, recreational, educational and employment opportunities are also challenged by a lack of transport and infrastructure as well.

Transport has been one of the biggest challenges across the project area for many years, and access to transport has proven to be a major determinant of health in rural Victoria.

The Southern Mallee Transport Connections Partnership continues to advocate for change, so that rural Victorians can continue to live in their local communities.

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