Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Time
Australia is divided into three time zones:
Eastern Standard Time
(Greenwich Mean Time + 10 hours) Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania
Central Standard Time
(30 minutes behind Eastern Standard Time) Northern Territory, South Australia
Western Standard Time
(two hours behind Eastern Standard Time) Western Australia
Note that Queensland remains on Eastern Standard Time all year, while most of Australia switches to daylight-saving
time over the summer (October to early April) when clocks are wound forward one hour.
Toilets
Toilets in Queensland are sit-down Western style (though you mightn't find this prospect too appealing in some remote
pitstops). See
www.toiletmap.gov.au
for public toilet locations throughout the state.
Tourist Information
Tourist information is provided in Queensland by regional and local offices - often volunteer-staffed info centres in key
tourist spots. Note that some tourist info outlets are also booking agents and will steer you towards the tour/accommoda-
tion that pays them the best commission.
Resources
Australian Tourist Commission
(ATC;
www.australia.com
) National organisation charged with luring foreign visitors.
Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport & Racing
(
www.nprsr.qld.gov.au
) Has information on national
parks throughout Queensland, including campsite bookings.
Tourism Queensland
(
www.queenslandholidays.com.au
)
Official Queensland government-run website stacked with in-
formation, from accommodation to diving the Great Barrier Reef.
Travellers with Disabilities
Disability awareness in Queensland is reasonably high. Legislation requires new accommodation to meet accessibility
standards and tourist operators must not discriminate. Facilities for wheelchairs are improving in accommodation, but
there are still many older establishments where the necessary upgrades haven't been made.
Resources
Accessible Tourism
(
www.australiaforall.com
)
Good site for accessibility information.
Deaf Australia
(
www.deafau.org.au
)
