‘I had to stay in the house’: in regional NSW, it’s getting harder to find a wheelchair taxi

Wheelchair user David Byrnes at his home in Goulburn in August, 2023. Earlier this year, the only accessible taxi in the town was taken off the road and Byrnes was homebound for much of the time. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/The Guardian

David Byrnes relies on a wheelchair-accessible taxi to attend physiotherapy appointments. But earlier this year, the only accessible taxi in his home town of Goulburn was taken off the road.

Byrnes was a fire technician before having seven strokes in two years between 2017 and 2019, which left him paralysed on the left side of his body. He is now unable to drive, and says losing access to the taxi service was “isolating”.