It’s a challenge facing many regional towns … how do you keep elderly residents connected and able to stay in their lifelong community, when services and public transport are scant? For Kilkivan, the answer was in its name, as QUT postgraduate students discovered.
The ‘KilkiVAN’ is the tiny Queensland town’s new community mini-bus and was sparked by a QUT student project, followed by an 18-month community effort to turn a great idea into reality.
Master of Business students with QUT’s School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations were challenged to think of ways to help the town bolster services for its aging population, as part of a capstone unit project in their final year.
The students were briefed about an ambitious “ageing-in-place” concept developed by Kilkivan & District Community Care, which included community transport.
“Kilkivan is a small town of around 700 people, that’s about 50km west of Gympie,” QUT senior lecturer and unit coordinator Dr Udo Gottlieb said.
“Small towns around Australia are often in danger of slowly dying as their young people leave for the city and jobs, and their remaining population becomes elderly and less independent.
“Our students came up with many strategies that could help Kilkivan – and one of them was how to fund, acquire and promote a community bus service.
“They researched the proposal and put together a very thorough feasibility study, which the Kilkivan & District Community Care Association was able to use to secure a $35,000 grant from the Queensland Gambling Community Benefit Fund to purchase a community van.
“The original student project was in late 2020, and 2021 was spent securing the grant and finding a suitable van, and arranging garaging, insurances, and licenses. Now, in 2022, all the hard work has paid off and the 12-seater bus is up and running and offering shuttle services for the community.”
The students involved in the KilkiVAN project have now all graduated with their Masters’ degrees.
The team members included Lauren Barrett, Belinda Connolly, Kirsten MacGregor, Sophia Nissen, Kristin Perissinotto, and Kelsey Sherwood.
Rosie Fitzgerald is the president of the Kilkivan & District Community Care Association and said the van had been put to good use this year and had taken locals from Kilkivan and nearby Goomeri on shopping trips to Gympie, as well as to a quilt show, bowls competition and local venues.
“The KilkiVAN operates several times each month, and we are hoping to expand the schedule as we get more accredited volunteer drivers,” she said.
“A regular Friday night courtesy bus service now operates, and we are also looking at more distant adventures. We are delighted that the Kilkivan Hotel is also now providing a weekly donation to support our transport initiative.”
Ms Fitzgerald said transport was a vital part of being able to keep towns like Kilkivan vibrant and thriving for people of all ages.
“The group of students who came up with the KilkiVAN concept really understood, better than me, that having accessible community transport was the first element to put in place if we were to have a good chance of achieving our remaining three goals: better, more efficient in-home care; affordable, accessible rental units; and a community hub building.
“Their masterstroke was the catchy name for the bus – KilkiVAN!
“It was wonderful for our organisation to have the opportunity to work through the components of the proposal with the QUT students – they brought a rigor and discipline to the analysis that we would not have applied otherwise.
“I am so grateful that Udo Gottlieb, his colleague Max Jamwal, and all the QUT students involved in this real-world exercise assisted us so effectively. We will also have the benefit of the other groups’ suggestions (such as a sensory garden).”
QUT runs the AMN499 capstone unit every semester to enable Masters students studying advertising, marketing or public relations to immerse themselves in a ‘work integrated learning’ (WIL) industry project where they research and analyse real-world problems and issues.
“We partner with many organisations and companies, and we are really proud to have produced such a tangible outcome for Kilkivan and its wonderful locals,” Dr Gottlieb said.
The KilkiVAN also features in a video (below) about the Kilkivan & District Community Care Association’s launch of its new community-coordinated home care program.
QUT Media contacts:
- Mechelle McMahon, media@qut.edu.au
- After hours, 0407 585 901 or media@qut.edu.au
