CDC Queensland is proud to partner with like-minded organisations in giving back to the communities we serve.
A spirit of partnership
As a provider of essential transport services, CDC Queensland is privileged to play a role in keeping our communities connected for work, rest, and play.
We are passionate about our relationships. Our people, clients and their customers, suppliers, and the communities in which we operate are fundamental to keeping us moving forward and prospering together.
We work closely with transport authorities to determine the best networks for our communities; we connect with the private sector to provide effective workforce solutions; and we engage with schools, sporting associations, community groups and the public to ensure our charter services are delivering on our service excellence goals.
Liveable and sustainable communities
We understand the importance of strong, vibrant communities. Each year, CDC Queensland engages in a variety of partnerships that focus on making a difference. We value participation that delivers local social and economic impact, sustainable outcomes, and community safety and wellbeing. We are proud of the programs we initiate and partner in to promote and benefit our wider industry.
Our work in the community
Buslink, now CDC Queensland, has supported a wide variety of organisations and causes over the years.
We are actively involved with the Queensland Government each year during Road Safety Week with a variety of initiatives to promote safe bus travel across the Sunshine Coast and Gladstone.
Our Gladstone work has included close relationships with the Gladstone Regional Council, Gladstone Festivals & Events, and Gladstone Ports Corporation, providing special services for major sporting events such as the Botanic to Bridge and the inaugural NRL Telstra Premiership game, and large-scale community events such as the 11-17yo youth event, Festival of Summer, and city’s popular Luminous.
We also work in partnership with authorities and tourism operators to deliver charter services for international cruise ship guests visiting the city, offering our high standard of service, and ensuring a guest experience to remember. We help to build strong communities, working closely with corporate partners to deliver expert services in employee transport in the resources sector.
On the Sunshine Coast, we donated two retiring school buses to worthy causes in late 2019 – one to support sleepbus, which will be converted to travelling sleep pods for the homeless, and another to provide an emergency response training vehicle for the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.
Further afield, during the late 2019 bush fire season, we donated a surplus bus to rescue injured animals in the Yeppoon region. This donation literally meant the difference between life and death – increasing the numbers of injured animals that were able to be saved by a local wildlife sanctuary.
Our people also get behind important issues and charitable causes, such as hosting morning teas and fundraising initiatives. These include a staff donation to Sunshine Butterflies, a Noosa-based group that focuses on active and healthy living initiatives to build skills and create healthy lifestyles for people living with a disability, and getting involved in national R U OK? Day to raise awareness about the complex and sensitive challenges of suicide prevention.
Sleepbus – a heart-warming end-of-life journey
When a retiring bus was nearing the end of its serviceable life in 2019, our Sunshine Coast team had an idea. All it took was one call to sleepbus CEO, Simon Rowe, and the ultimate recycling partnership was on its way.
The former school bus will soon have a new lease of life when it is kitted out to sleep the homeless who do it tough camping out on the streets of the Sunshine Coast.
To quote the multitalented Simon on the sleepbus Facebook page:
“Hi sleepbus Family, more awesome news that I just had to make into a poem. Hopefully you enjoy… Just got back from an 1800km road trip from Buslink in QLD with a donated bus”.
We did indeed! Watch Simon’s poetic journey as he heads south, driving change for the homeless.
The Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre has jumped on board and is raising funds to help with this incredibly worthwhile cause. To help out head to the fundraising page and stay tuned for more.
School bus gets a new lease of life with the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services
When we update our buses, we are faced with the decision on the best use of our older, fully serviceable vehicles that are no longer required. In October 2019, a surplus 1995 model Mercedes Benz school bus was donated to the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) at our Caloundra Depot. Described by QFES as ‘invaluable’, the retired school bus has since been used around the state for emergency response training purposes, such as mock-up heavy vehicle road accident training exercises… Read more
New transport for sick and injured animals
In 2019, we donated a surplus school bus to help with the transportation of sick and injured animals to the Cooberrie Park Wildlife Sanctuary, near Yeppoon in Central Queensland.
It all began when a Buslink team member spotted a Facebook post about the heroic endeavours of Cooberrie Park Wildlife Sanctuary and Wildlife Rehabilitation HQ Inc. The post explained how staff had set about rescuing and relocating their animals during the horrific fire events, which threatened the Yeppoon area in mid-November.
We read that sanctuary staff and friends had rescued more than 150 animals in in the park’s specialist bus, transporting them to safety near Yeppoon, as fires burned nearby. A wide variety of birds, reptiles, crocodiles, koalas, and monkeys recovering from illness or injury, were among the evacuated animals.
The evacuation was described as ‘Noah’s Ark on a bus’, as the animals were whisked away, while flames and embers glowed around rescuers. The limited capacity on the sanctuary bus meant staff were faced with the agonising reality of choosing which animals to leave behind… Read more
Traditional custodians
CDC Queensland acknowledges the traditional custodians of the regions in which we operate. We acknowledge the Kabi Kabi and Jinibara Peoples of the Sunshine Coast region, and the Gooreng Gooreng, Bailai and Gurangand Peoples of the Gladstone region. We pay respect to their elders – past, present, and emerging. We are committed to contributing towards a positive future for Aboriginal communities.
