How do you transfer a participant from a wheelchair into a car safely?
The safe method is the one written in the participant's manual handling plan, carried out on level ground, with the equipment the plan names and the participant doing as much of the movement as they can. For most people that means a transfer board or slide sheet across to the car seat, a swivel cushion or swivel seat, or staying in the wheelchair and boarding a vehicle by ramp or hoist. It never means lifting the participant under the arms. This guide covers how each method works, how to plan the transfer before you open the car door, what happens to the wheelchair afterwards, and the situations where the right decision is not to do it at all.
Last reviewed September 2026 · Applies to the Manual Handling Training for Disability Support Workers course.
The methods, and who decides between them
An occupational therapist or physiotherapist assesses the participant, the vehicle and the setting and writes the method into the manual handling plan. A seated transfer with a transfer board suits a participant who can sit unsupported, has some upper body strength and can follow instructions: the wheelchair is angled to the open door with the near armrest removed and brakes on, the board bridges under the thigh, and the participant slides across in small movements while you steady from the door opening rather than leaning across the seat.
A swivel cushion on the car seat lets a participant who can stand or pivot sit down facing outwards and then turn their legs in, without twisting. Powered swivel seats do the same job for people who cannot pivot themselves. For participants who cannot transfer at all, or whose wheelchair is powered, the answer is a vehicle with a ramp or platform hoist: the participant stays in their wheelchair, is secured with a four-point tie-down, and wears an occupant restraint fitted to the vehicle. A wheelchair's own lap belt is not an occupant restraint.
Planning the transfer before you touch the door
Most car transfer injuries are set up before the transfer starts, by parking on a slope, working in a narrow gap between two cars, or rushing because it is raining. Module 6 of this course is built around planning the task first, and a car park is where that planning is most obviously tested.
- Park on level ground with room to open the door fully or deploy the ramp, even if it means a longer walk
- Slide the seat back and recline it slightly so the participant lands well back rather than on the edge
- Check the participant today: pain, fatigue, spasms, a recent seizure or a change in medication can make the planned method unsafe
- Check the wheelchair: brakes holding, footplates away, armrest removed, cushion in place
- Manage clothing, bags and the seatbelt before the move so nobody is reaching or twisting mid-transfer
- Agree the steps with the participant and let them lead the movement at their own pace
The wheelchair, the boot and the drive
Once the participant is seated, the wheelchair still has to travel. A folded manual wheelchair or walker goes in the boot only if the plan says how, and only if it is light enough for the method described. Lifting a heavy chair over a boot sill while twisting is a hazardous manual task in its own right, and the answer to a chair that is too heavy is a different vehicle or a hoist, not a bigger lift. Power wheelchairs are never lifted by workers.
In a wheelchair-accessible vehicle, check the ramp locks or the hoist platform cycles cleanly before you use it, never leave a participant on a hoist platform unattended, and fit the tie-downs and occupant restraint every trip. On long drives, build in breaks: sustained posture and vibration are risk factors for the participant and for you.
When not to attempt the transfer
There is no plan, or the plan does not cover the vehicle in front of you. The only parking is on a slope and cannot be changed. The participant is unwell, in pain or not moving the way the plan expects. The transfer board is missing or the vehicle hoist fails its pre-use check. The plan calls for two workers and you are alone. In each case the safe answer is to stop, keep the participant comfortable, and phone your coordinator, who can send a second worker, a different vehicle or reschedule. Improvising a lift under the arms because the appointment is in twenty minutes is how shoulders are dislocated and backs are injured.
Module 6, Supporting Participants with Mobility, covers wheelchair to car and wheelchair into van transfers, and Module 7, Equipment and Assistive Technology, covers transfer boards, swivel seats, vehicle ramps, hoists and restraints, including pre-use checks and weight ratings. The course is theory: your provider is responsible for training you on the actual vehicle and equipment, and the participant's OT for the method.
Common questions
Sources
- Safe Work Australia — Model Code of Practice: Hazardous manual tasks — The national code the state and territory regulators adopt or mirror.
- Safe Work Australia — Lifting, pushing and pulling (manual tasks)
- NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission — NDIS Practice Standards — Provider obligations; this course is not the NDIS Worker Orientation Module.
General information about Australian work health and safety duties, not legal advice. Your employer’s procedures and the regulator in your state take precedence.
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