What Happens When You Can’t Drive?

This October, Australia joins a growing global movement!

Week Without Driving Australia invites people to step out of their cars. Why? As an empathy challenge. Because for millions of people, driving is not a choice, it’s everyday life.

We’re inviting you to step into the Week Without Driving movement as a WWD Champion.

About these Monthly Calls

Wendy Nash, Founder of Get Around Caboolture, welcomes you to this growing global movement that addresses mobility justice and inclusion.

Join Wendy's Monthly Calls on MS Teams and find out more about WWD.

What does it means to step into the role of a WWD Champion? They are, advocates, representatives and connectors within their organisations who will bring this movement to community, locally.

Whether through your workplace, school, organisation, or community, you’ll be invited to bring Week Without Driving into your own context in Australia this October, while being supported along the way.

If you are interested but not sure this is for you, please join in, ask the questions, meet the people and be inspired by what is possible when we work together towards justice and inclusion.

Background

The campaign began in 2021, when Anna Zivarts at Disability Rights Washington launched Week Without Driving so that policy makers, elected leaders and transportation professionals could begin to understand the barriers non-drivers experience in accessing their communities.

Why this Matters

How do you get to work if the bus doesn’t come?
How do you take your child to school if there’s no footpath?
How do you attend appointments, buy groceries, or participate in community life if transport systems weren’t designed with you in mind?

These barriers are not occasional inconveniences, they are daily realities for many.

Mobility determines access to:

Employment
Education
Healthcare
Social connection
Independence
Opportunity

Week Without Driving creates an opportunity to experience this reality, firsthand! Not through reports, not through statistics, but through LIVED EXPERIENCE.

The Bigger Picture: A National Invitation

We’re inviting organisations across Australia to participate in Week Without Driving (1–8 October), to experience, reflect, and share what this reveals about how our cities and communities actually work. Because when we understand the barriers people face, we can begin designing communities that really work for everyone.

Participants will commit to reducing or removing private car use during the week and documenting the experience.

Alternatives to driving may include:

Public transport
Walking
Cycling
Ride sharing
Mobility aids
Or recognising where no viable options exist!

The Structure: Monthly Calls & Community Connection (Optional)

To support participants, the initiative will include:

Monthly community zoom calls
Shared reflections
Storytelling opportunities
Cross-sector conversations
Community support spaces
Strategic Partnerships

Who should participate?

The list below is by no means exclusive! It's a start, and we welcome everyone!

Government - Local, State and Federal

Where change can become implementation.

Disability & Lived Experience Organisations

Because meaningful change begins with lived experience shaping systems.

Active Transport & Advocacy Groups

This expands the conversation beyond cycling or transport into inclusion, access, and participation.

Community & Social Impact Organisations

This is where conversations around migration, accessibility, cognitive load, ageing, and community connection become real — not theoretical.

Corporate Leaders

Mobility shapes workforce participation, wellbeing, and social inclusion.

We especially invite organisations with Sustainability goals and Community Impact agendas

TOGETHER, WE CAN REIMAGINE MOBILITY

Week Without Driving is an opportunity to better understand how transport shapes inclusion, independence, and connection in our communities. By participating, we can help create more accessible, equitable, and liveable cities and towns for everyone!

This is a shared, hands-on journey - working together on something that matters to everyone involved, learning as we go, and making space for curiosity, creativity, and yes!, fun along the way, as we reimagine how we move through our cities together.

Experience it. Reflect on it. Help change it!

*** Note: This is an independent initiative led by Get Around Caboolture and supported by Liveable Cities Collective. ***

About the Host

Wendy Nash (Caboolture, QLD)

This initiative is brought to Australia by Wendy Nash, Founder Get Around Caboolture.

Wendy Nash is the founder of Get Around Caboolture, a community-based NFP working to expand transport choices in Caboolture and Morayfield, on the outskirts of Brisbane.

Wendy advocates for more transport choice to foster a more connected and inclusive community. Her goal is to build empathy and drive systemic change, ensuring transport decisions consider the transport needs of all residents where 1 in 4 adults and all children can’t drive.

Connect with Wendy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/get-around-caboolture/

Email Wendy at: Connect@getaroundcaboolture.au

GAC Website: https://getaroundcaboolture.au/

🌎 About Liveable Cities Collective 🌎

We are a space that ignites lively discussions, sparks creativity, fuels curiosity, and nurtures collaboration.

We are people from diverse industries who care deeply about the future of our cities and communities. Here, purposeful conversations turn to courageous partnerships and Radical Action!

Contact the host of Week Without Driving 2026 - Join the Movement