The Board of Bicycle Queensland wishes to advise members that from Monday 8 May, our CEO since 2019, Rebecca Randazzo will be departing the organisation to be replaced by Interim CEO, Lisa Davies Jones.

Lisa is a passionate cyclist, a long-time volunteer Director of the organisation and an experienced CEO who has worked in both the Health and Fitness sectors. Lisa enjoys riding as both a commuter and social rider and also competes in the occasional masters road race and time trail event.

Lisa looks forward to working with the Board and the Bicycle Queensland’s dedicated team of staff to continue to grow the number of people riding. Lisa has a particular interest in supporting more women to start riding, through access to networks of other women riders across Queensland.

As she leaves BQ, the board thanks outgoing CEO Rebecca Randazzo for her commitment to the organisation over more than three years.

Rebecca has been a passionate advocate for cycling.  She has steered the organisation through the challenging times of COVID and the 2022 flooding of our office at Milton, delivered great advocacy wins such as the introduction of the Brisbane CityLink Cycleway and an expansion in Queensland Government support for rail trails, modernised the member experience and developed the successful HER Ride program.

As members know, Bicycle Queensland is a wonderful organisation. We have been around since 1979, today have 13,000 members and have delivered years of significant advocacy wins, great events and strong support for bike riders.

We look forward to continuing to support you our members in the months and years ahead and to working with you to make Queensland a better place by getting more people riding more often.

Your sincerely,

Rachel Nolan

Chair

Dear Members,  

As the year comes to end, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for your ongoing support through what has been an incredibly challenging year for Bicycle Queensland (BQ). This year has seen BQ overcome losing our office in the February floods and cancelling the Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge event due to circumstances outside our control. We have a long way to go, but your support has enabled us to continue the critical advocacy and education work we do across Queensland.  

Our recent trip to the Annual Local Government Authority conference in Cairns has enabled us to connect with councillors and reinforce our campaigning on the role riding plays in connecting communities and building a robust adventure tourism industry. Our new heavy vehicle virtual reality experience is another example of how we continue to innovate the way we educate road users to work towards a safer and more harmonious transport network.   

Whilst there is still much to do, we continue to work hard to achieve our mission of getting more people riding more often. To ensure we can continue to provide a comprehensive membership, we’ll be increasing the cost of our membership categories from 1st January 2023.   

Type	Monthly	Annually
Individual	$12.99	$134
Household of 2	$15.99	$172
Household of 3+	$17.99	$198
Individual Concession	$9.99	$99
BQ Supporter (excludes insurance)	$5.00	$49

This increase will ensure you retain the best value-for-money cycling membership in Australia. You will also retain the same level of insurance, which is the best insurance product available. I thought it was important to share with you what this increase will also allow us to:  

• Continue to develop the City Link bike way after confirmation it will become a permeant piece of infrastructure  
• Advocate for making spaces for passengers to bring their bikes on the Tilt Train from Rockhampton to Brisbane, opening up cycle tourism possibilities and connections with regional rail trails. 
• Invest and develop new technologies to educate all road users and encourage more people to ride   
• Develop and invest in new digital tools to improve communication and the membership process  
• Improve digital platforms to work strategically with regional and metropolitan Bicycle User Groups  
• Develop new events in partnership with like-minded organisations to reach and service members outside southeast Queensland  
• Assist us to meet the rising cost of insurance and operational expenses  

This increase will enable us to continue to provide the quality and breadth of services you love and expect from us. If you have any questions about the price increase or membership packages, don’t hesitate to contact me or our membership team.

Happy and safe riding.

Rebecca Randazzo

Bicycle Queensland, CEO

Australia will have a Federal Election soon (before the end of May). We know Bicycle Queensland members are deeply engaged in working towards a better nation and are keen to have their say. We think that one simple change the Federal Government could make would be to allow the purchase of bicycles and e-bicycles for transport to work to be salary-sacrificed.

If you agree, please write to the candidates in your Federal electorate. We have some suggested text below.

Follow the prompts to send your letter:

1. copy and paste the below draft into your email
2. take the link to access your candidates information – https://www.craft.do/s/nQ1Nv2wnHuAWfu
3. send your email for a healthier Australia

Letter to Federal Candidates

Dear candidate

One massive challenge facing Australia today is how to help people make personal changes towards a sustainable future, rather than relying on Government or business.

I’m writing to you as a candidate for the 2022 Federal Election to put forward one idea which would get us to Net Zero emissions faster and also make the population healthier.

Australia should follow the UK’s lead and give substantial tax breaks for people buying bicycles and e-bicycles used for transport (1). The UK Cycle to Work scheme generates twice as much economic benefit to the nation in health and physical fitness as it costs in lost taxes (2).

This 2:1 cost-benefit ratio makes this a no-brainer for the Australian context. Why wouldn’t we want to have a healthier population, with a lower risk of heart disease, more alert and productive at work, and reduce traffic congestion and pollution at the same time?

A Cycle To Work tax scheme would achieve all these benefits, and the UK example shows there’s simply no downside. I look forward to your response.

Yours towards a healthier Australia

regards

(name)

A bike rider.

Notes:

1.Cycle to Work scheme guidance for employers.

2.UK Cycle to Work scheme generates UKP 72 million in economic benefits a year.2022 Federal

Find your candidate below:

https://www.craft.do/s/nQ1Nv2wnHuAWfu