A community voice for walking

Action 4.2, Action Plan for Walking 2022–2024

Department/Agency: Department of Transport and Main Roads

Status: Complete

Support community advocacy for walking.

Overview

The Department of Transport and Main Roads values a strong community voice for walking. We supported Queensland Walks to enable community input by:

• coordinating the Queensland Walks Alliance
• managing an online resource called Walk Hub
• running Queensland Walks Month and providing advice to government consultation and advisory committees.

Achievements

We have invested in amplifying a community voice for walking and provided opportunities for people to participate in creating better places to walk.

We support Queensland Walks, which is the peak body for community advocacy for walking in the state. The organisation coordinates the Queensland Walking Alliance, which includes more than 30 organisations representing or interacting with 2 million Queenslanders. Members include:

• RACQ
• Heart Foundation
• 10,000 Steps
• Queenslanders with Disability Network
• Council on the Ageing
• Guide Dogs Queensland.

The Queensland Walking alliance aims to improve the health of Queenslanders and enhance equity by getting more people walking every day. In 2023 the alliance published a Call to Action on accessibility and inclusion.

Queensland Walks manages the Walk Hub, which provides information for communities on how streets could be improved for walking, ways to report a problem and suggest improvements, and ideas for how to take action to tackle a bigger problem. The Walk Hub includes commissioned videos such as the road safety video See it from the other side and How are you travelling?, which promotes walking to school.

We also supported Queensland Walks Month in 2022 and 2023. The month included:

• guided walks
• walking challenges and competitions
• provided opportunities for Queenslanders to share their walking stories and experiences.

The theme in 2023 was Walk Explore, which included a focus on exploring local areas and a 10,000 Steps challenge for all Queenslanders to collectively walk 1 billion steps during August. The final step count was almost 1.5 billion.

As the peak advocacy body for walking in the state, Queensland Walks is a member of local government road safety and active transport advisory groups. The organisation also sits on state government consultation committees such as road safety and personal mobility devices safety and parking, and is a consultee for specific projects.

Next steps

The Department of Transport and Main Roads will continue to support community initiatives as part of its commitment to promoting walking in Queensland.

More information

Visit Queensland Walks for more information.