Navigating for change: FNQ Connect

Four members of the Far North Queensland (FNQ) Connect team embarked on an eventful journey around Cairns city - but this was no ordinary outing. 

The colleagues were taking part in Spinal Life Australia’s Realistic RACE - a three-hour challenge led by people with lived experience of disability, designed to spark conversation and alter perspectives regarding accessibility. Inspired by the popular TV program The Amazing Race, the Realistic RACE instead required participants to complete real-world challenges using mobility aids like wheelchairs, walkers and blindfolds. But there was a catch: participants were not allowed to tell the public they were ‘acting’.

It wasn’t long before the group encountered their first barrier. After navigating a pot-hole riddled footpath, their bus driver failed to pull up close enough to deploy the accessibility ramp, meaning the wheelchair-bound member of the group was unable to board the bus independently and instead had to be carried onto the vehicle.
“Getting on and off the bus in a wheelchair felt awkward and uncomfortable, and there was very little help offered by the public.
Only a few people stepped in to assist, but those who did were incredibly kind and went out of their way to help, which stood in stark contrast to the general lack of awareness from others,” said Administration Officer Samantha Shirreffs.

Similarly, a trip to the so-called accessible bathrooms in the city's centre raised another red flag for the team, when they discovered the facility was locked. “There were sometimes in which we felt completely 'ignored',” said Tahlani Scanlan, a Community Mobiliser  within the FNQ Connect team.
She continued, “... whereas other times, such as when the disabled bathroom was locked, a stranger stopped and offered to help us to the next closest wheelchair accessible bathroom. She could see we were clearly distressed when the bathroom was locked and really went to go out of her way to assist us in finding another bathroom.”

For the group of colleagues, who are themselves championing the community-led movement to bring about better disability, rehabilitation and lifestyle services throughout FNQ – the overall experience was profound. It offered real insights into the day-today challenges that people with lived experience of disability face; often on a daily basis.

Director, Eleanor Loudon said the challenge highlighted the need to shape a more inclusive FNQ: “The experience was challenging in ways I hadn’t expected… and emphasised we won’t truly address inclusion in Far North Queensland unless we place the experience of disability at the centre of all the decisions we make.”

“It was something that everyone should experience just once, in order to understand and be more educated around the everyday realities that people with a disability face daily,” - Tahlani Scanlan, Community Mobiliser, FNQ Connect

November 2025