Request a review of school travel pass application
This page is about requesting a review if your application for free school travel has been rejected. If you have had a student travel pass before you will need a different page:
- If your pass has expired, or your details or travel requirements have changed or there is a change in shared parental responsibility arrangements, go to re-apply or update details on a pass.
- If your card is damaged, lost, or stolen, go to replace a damaged, lost, or stolen pass.
Special circumstances
If your application is unsuccessful, or if further information is required, you will receive advice by email.
If you believe there are special circumstances about your application, you can request a review. Special circumstances include:
- The pedestrian infrastructure between the student’s home and school/TAFE is unsuitable for safe walking.
- The student has a medical condition which prevents them from walking to and from school/TAFE.
- Legal/Child Services. You need to include supporting documentation when applying for an exemption on Legal/Child Services grounds, i.e. Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) or letter from Department of Family and Community Services.
Initial applications on medical grounds may be approved for up to 12 months with a certificate from your general practitioner. Subsequent applications require a more comprehensive report from a medical specialist demonstrating how the student's medical condition prevents him/her walking to and from school. Subsidised travel on medical grounds does not apply to a one-off injury or a minor, temporary or irregular condition.
Alternatively you may be eligible to purchase a School Term Bus Pass for discounted travel on buses between home and school for the whole school term or travel on child fares.
Request a review
Transport for NSW assesses each application on its individual merits. It will take into account:
- The original assessment of the straight line (radial) distance between the student's home and school.
- The walking route the student will take to travel between home and school. This is assessed against the Guidelines for Determining the Safety of a Walking Route to School.
- Any medical condition and supporting evidence.
If Transport for NSW determines that the student is eligible for a travel pass under the SSTS, a school travel pass will be issued to the student.
A review of your declined application must be completed prior to appealing to the SSTS Appeals Panel.
The SSTS Appeals Panel is an independent body comprised of representatives from the Department of Education and parent groups. The panel meets every month.
The panel may uphold an appeal if it concludes that special circumstances apply. Special circumstances generally relate to situations where a family experiences exceptional and/or substantial issues in transporting an ineligible student to school.
The panel does not review decisions relating to the:
- mode of transport or the route approved for eligible students.
- application of the straight line distance test.
- walking distance test conducted by Transport for NSW.
Each appeal received is examined on its merits and investigated before being submitted to the panel for adjudication. The time between appeals being received and resolved may take up to eight weeks.
To appeal, email your completed appeals panel application form (pdf 263KB) to sstsappeals@transport.nsw.gov.au or post to PO Box K659 Haymarket NSW 1240.
If the student has a medical condition which prevents them from walking to and from school/TAFE, you can include an SSTS medical report and certificate (pdf 286KB) when applying for an exemption on medical grounds.
Initial applications on medical grounds may be approved for up to 12 months with a certificate from your general practitioner.
Subsequent applications require a more comprehensive report from a medical specialist demonstrating how the student's medical condition prevents him/her walking to and from school. Subsidised travel on medical grounds does not apply to a one-off injury or a minor, temporary or irregular condition.