How Connect Ability Australia used fleet technology to protect passengers and reduce administration
Connect Ability Australia began its fleet technology project with a billing problem.
Employees transporting disability support participants recorded journeys, passenger names and kilometres on handwritten forms. Those records then needed to be interpreted, checked and entered manually before transport costs could be invoiced.
The process could take six to eight weeks and consumed the equivalent of approximately 0.8 of a full-time position.
After implementing Geotab telematics and customised digital forms, Connect Ability Australia transformed the process. Transport data is now collected electronically, billing is faster and employees spend less time completing paperwork.
The organisation also discovered that the same technology could improve vehicle inspections, incident reporting, driver behaviour, route planning, utilisation and, most importantly, passenger safety.
Why vote for Connect Ability Australia?
Connect Ability Australia has adapted fleet technology to the particular needs of disability support services.
A project that began with billing automation has evolved into a broader system supporting safer driving, faster incident responses, digital inspections, better utilisation and stronger evidence for transport claims.
Transport is essential to participant independence
Connect Ability Australia employs more than 550 people and delivers disability and allied health services across Newcastle, the Hunter, the Central Coast and several regional communities.
Its services include supported independent living, community participation and paediatric allied health.
The organisation operates almost 50 vehicles, including wheelchair-accessible Toyota HiAce vans, people movers, hybrid passenger vehicles and smaller SUVs.
The fleet travels more than 600,000 kilometres each year.
For many participants, transport is essential to accessing employment, appointments, recreation and community activities. Removing transport because it is too difficult or expensive to administer could leave people isolated at home.
Connect Ability Australia therefore needed a system that would meet National Disability Insurance Agency requirements without directing excessive resources away from participant support.
Replacing handwritten transport records
Under the previous process, employees wrote participant names, destinations and kilometres on paper.
The system relied on legible handwriting, accurate calculations and timely submission. Even small inconsistencies created additional work.
Names could be written or spelt in multiple ways, making it difficult to match journeys to the correct participant record. Forms needed to move through several employees before billing could be completed.
Connect Ability Australia approached the market seeking a way to automate this process.
Working with Leading Edge Innovations and using the Geotab platform, it developed a digital workflow that connects vehicle journey data with driver and participant information.
Employees use a mobile device to:
- select themselves as the driver
- select the participant or participants travelling
- start the journey
- end the journey.
Geotab records the distance travelled, while the digital form links the trip to the selected participants.
At the end of the billing period, finance employees can access consistent records without deciphering handwritten sheets or manually calculating every journey.
Cutting the administrative workload
The project has not removed every manual process because some employees use their own vehicles and submit kilometres through payroll.
However, Connect Ability Australia estimates that the administrative work associated with compiling its company-vehicle transport data has been reduced to approximately 10 per cent of its previous level.
Billing that once took six to eight weeks can now be completed as part of the normal month-end process.
The benefits extend beyond the finance team.
Frontline employees spend less time writing transport details and more time with participants. The organisation can also provide stronger evidence when an invoice or transport charge needs to be verified.
The information is based on recorded vehicle movements rather than estimates or handwritten declarations.
Protecting vulnerable passengers
Billing was the original reason for the project, but passenger safety quickly became one of its most important outcomes.
Some Connect Ability Australia participants have profound disabilities and may be unable to communicate concerns about a journey or an employee’s driving.
Geotab provides independent information about what occurred in the vehicle.
The system can report:
- speeding
- harsh braking
- harsh acceleration
- harsh cornering
- idling
- high-risk driving patterns
- significant impact events
- vehicle location
- journey duration.
This allows the organisation to identify behaviour that participants may not be able to report themselves.
Senior executives receive monthly dashboards covering the vehicles and teams for which they are responsible. Drivers or journeys can be classified as high, medium or low risk, with detailed information available behind the dashboard.
Rolling 12-month safety reports allow management to monitor whether risk is improving over time.
Responding to incidents sooner
Before telematics, some vehicle damage could go unreported for long periods.
Connect Ability Australia described incidents where vehicles had struck structures or suffered roof damage without an immediate report. By the time the damage was discovered, it could be difficult to establish what had happened or lodge an insurance claim.
The organisation can now receive automated notifications following significant impact events.
This allows managers to contact the employee, check on passengers, inspect the vehicle and begin the incident process sooner.
Incident data also supports accountability and targeted driver training.
Connect Ability Australia reported that accidents had risen to a high point around the beginning of 2026 but had subsequently begun to decline as telematics information was used to identify risks and deliver training.
The organisation is also introducing driver scorecards to identify patterns before they lead to a collision.
Training drivers in the vehicles they use
Connect Ability Australia has adjusted its driver training program in response to the information coming from the system.
Employees may complete buddy shifts with experienced drivers before operating larger vehicles. Where further support is required, small groups receive face-to-face training in the type of vehicle they normally use.
This is particularly important because the fleet contains different vehicle sizes, wheelchair hoists, handbrake designs and operating features.
Employees driving a Hiace van receive training in a Hiace rather than learning in a small passenger car or at a generic training facility.
Where poor driving is associated with one supported living home, the organisation may train the entire team rather than focusing on one employee.
The aim is to make training relevant to the actual vehicles, passengers and environments employees encounter.
Digitising inspections and accident reports
Connect Ability Australia has expanded the platform using doForms.
Vehicle inspections and accident reports can now be completed digitally using QR codes placed within operational materials or vehicles.
Employees scan the code and are taken directly to the correct form.
During a vehicle inspection, they can work around the asset, answer required questions and upload photographs. The completed report is automatically sent to the appropriate employee for review.
Accident forms follow the same information requirements as the organisation’s insurance claims process. This reduces duplication and ensures the details collected immediately after an incident can be reused when the claim is submitted.
The digital process also provides clearer records than disconnected paper forms.
Better management information
Before Geotab, utilisation was reviewed manually and often only for annual reporting.
Connect Ability Australia now receives monthly utilisation reports and dashboards for individual executive teams.
The system can also support:
- service scheduling
- battery alerts
- emissions reporting
- idling analysis
- route reviews
- remote journey monitoring
- rest-break compliance for regional travel.
Automated reports are delivered directly to managers without requiring the finance team to manually produce them each month.
This is particularly valuable during the busy month-end period.
The organisation continues to refine alert thresholds because different vehicle types and operating conditions require different settings. Rather than applying one rule across the entire fleet, it can adjust parameters to suit individual vehicles and services.
Results at a glance
- More than 550 employees
- Almost 50 fleet vehicles
- More than 600,000 kilometres travelled annually
- Transport billing previously took six to eight weeks
- Previous administration equated to approximately 0.8 of a full-time position
- Company-vehicle billing administration reduced to around 10 per cent of its former level
- Monthly safety and utilisation dashboards introduced
- Automated alerts for significant vehicle impacts
- Digital vehicle inspections and incident reporting implemented
- Driver behaviour monitoring supporting targeted training
- Vehicle-specific face-to-face driver training introduced
- Emissions, idling and service information available through the platform
Technology supporting the core purpose
Connect Ability Australia does not exist to operate a fleet. Its core purpose is to support people with disabilities.
The value of the project is therefore measured by the time and resources returned to participant services.
As Leigh Tull, CFO at Connect Ability Australia, explained during the finalist interview, removing manual fleet processes allows the organisation to focus on “customer service with all of our clients”.
The technology has helped finance employees process billing, managers monitor utilisation, safety teams identify driving risks and frontline employees complete inspections and reports.
Most importantly, it gives the organisation greater visibility of the journeys taken by vulnerable passengers.