What the $16m PATS Promise Could Mean for Country Families Forced to Travel for Care
The Malinauskas Labor Government has announced a $16 million PATS promise, proposing a significant expansion of South Australia’s Patient Assistance Transport Scheme to ease the burden on regional people forced to travel long distances for specialist healthcare.
The $16 million, four-year commitment would nearly triple the current accommodation allowance, broaden fuel subsidy eligibility for people travelling multiple times a week for treatment. It also has the capacity to unlock a long-advocated $60 million accommodation facility backed by Cancer Council SA to support regional patients undergoing cancer treatment.
If delivered, it would mark a meaningful shift for thousands of country South Australians who routinely leave home, and shoulder major out-of-pocket costs, just to access specialist care.
Four Years on the Road – When Staying Alive Means Constant Travel
For families like the Moultons, it’s the kind of announcement that lands close to home.
For almost four years, Melrose local Bob Moulton, supported by his wife Jan, has made the same punishing 140-kilometre round trip along a winding country road three times a week to Port Augusta for dialysis. That’s two hours in the car and five hours on a dialysis machine — a seven-hour day, repeated week after week, just to stay alive.
And in all that time, not a cent of support has been available through the Patient Assistance Transport Scheme. No fuel subsidy, no accommodation assistance, nothing.
What the PATS Expansion Means for Regional Patients
Under the proposal, accommodation support would rise from $44 to $110 per night, increasing to $154 for patients travelling with an authorised support person. Fuel subsidies would also be expanded to recognise cumulative travel, particularly for oncology and renal patients who often make multiple trips each week.
It also paves the way for a new 50-bed accommodation facility in Adelaide’s northern suburbs, which is expected to support around 2,500 regional patients and families each year.
Politics Aside – The Need is Undeniable
There’s no escaping the timing. With a state election looming, regional health announcements have been arriving thick and fast, and it’s fair to ask why families have carried this burden for so long.
More than 20,000 South Australians accessed PATS support last financial year. Many others didn’t qualify, or quietly absorbed the costs themselves. Appointments were delayed and or community fundraising became vital for survival.
If honoured, this commitment won’t remove the tyranny of distance that defines regional healthcare, but it could finally ease one of its heaviest financial loads.
For families already dealing with illness, uncertainty and time away from home, that matters.
And for regional South Australians who’ve spent years saying the system wasn’t working, it’s a sign that their voices, and their stories, are finally being heard.
