Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I know, we do want seat belts. That took years. We will have to keep lobbying. I had a look at some of the research before I came up here and looked particularly at children in buses. I do not have the information that the honourable member for Gilmore has, but I found that the issue of safety with children around schools is still primarily in the area of pedestrian safety. It does not mean that things do not happen in buses, because they clearly do.

Road trauma is a major public health problem facing this country. We know that. Last year 1,509 people died on our roads—1,509 people too many—and 33,000 people were seriously injured. It is particularly heartbreaking when it affects young people. Research and work around road safety in Australia has been going on for some 40 years. Despite the terrible rate of accidents we have, it has actually halved over that period, even with all the cars and buses we have on the road. That is due to tougher laws, better policing, improved driver training, better road design, extensive education campaigns, new vehicle technologies and, yes, seat belts. Like a lot of members in this place, I was around when seatbelts were not the law. We used to drive without them and never thought about it. When they came in they clearly showed a correlation in the prevention of preventing deaths and serious injury.

Decisions as to which type of bus is most suited for a particular service is regulated by state and territory governments. They have responsibility for the service regulation and the road rules. The fitting of seat belts also rests with state and territory governments. In 2005 the Australian Transport Council approved the voluntary national guidelines for risk assessment of school bus routes that the honourable member raised tonight. That is what the state and territory governments use for assessing school bus routes. They are currently progressing their own arrangements. The honourable member wants that speeded up.

In my research I found a report from the Sunday Times from 11 February 2010—I am not sure if you saw it; this was in Western Australia. It said:

EACH of the State’s school buses has now been fitted with seatbelts, Education Minister Liz Constable announced today.

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“Western Australia is the first State in the nation to make seatbelts mandatory for buses used to transport public school students.

I did not think it was mandated in any state or territory. I must admit that when I found that I was a little bit surprised. It probably gives some hope. I looked at South Australia and read some information. I do not have anything on New South Wales, but I do know it is not mandatory in our state. I know that but I do not have the details. The government of South Australia announced in 2006 that it would fit seatbelts to all new school buses—I am not sure about old school buses—and that private operators would be required to tender. This is similar to what happens in Queensland. The program introduced by the previous government, which the honourable member was a member of—was announced in September 2007. That program has prevailed and the government is supporting the program. (Time expired)

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