On-demand transport policies

The Transport (Road Passenger Services) Act 2018 specifies a range of safety duties and standards for passenger transport services.   

The Act defines the roles of those involved in the industry and sets out their obligations and responsibilities, particularly in relation to the health and safety of passengers, drivers and the public.   

At the core of the legislation is a chain of accountability, which is based on the concept of a duty of care and defines various levels of duties depending on the industry roles. 

Where legislation imposes requirements on industry, the role of the Department of Transport is to provide support to industry participants to understand and comply with their responsibilities.   

Further information on Safety Duties can be found on the Safety for industry page.

A passenger transport service provider that solely provides a school bus service is not considered an on-demand booking service (ODBS) and does not require ODBS authorisation.

A school bus service provider is still required to ensure that the vehicles and drivers used to facilitate this service are appropriately authorised.

School bus services

School bus services are defined under the Transport (Road Passenger Services) Regulations 2020 (the Regulations) as a passenger transport service that:

• uses vehicles that are equipped to carry more than 8 people; and 
• is provided solely to carry students, with or without adults who are responsible for them, to or from – 
  • a school (as defined in the School Education Act 1999); or
  • another place that students enrolled at school attend for an event or activity approved by the school. 

Legislative requirements 

Under the Regulations, school bus service providers are exempt from all the requirements of the Transport (Road Passenger Services) Act 2018 (the Act), except the requirement to have a safety management system. 

ODBS authorisation 

A school bus service provider is not an ODBS if their service solely: 

• takes or facilitates bookings for passenger transport vehicles (PTVs) that are used to provide school bus services; and 
• communicates the bookings to drivers of PTVs providing a school bus service or to providers of school bus services. 

School bus service providers who meet these criteria do not require ODBS authorisation. 

School bus vehicles 

Vehicles that are used solely to provide a school bus service do not require a PTV authorisation. 

Vehicles that are used to provide school bus services, as well as any on-demand charter, regular or tourism passenger transport services need to have the applicable PTV authorisation. 

By the end of September, school bus operators will be able to apply for temporary, 1-month PTV authorisations. Visit Temporary PTV authorisations for school buses for more information.

School bus drivers 

Drivers of a school buses may require a passenger transport driver (PTD) authorisation, depending on the terms of their employment or arrangements for driving the school bus. Visit Passenger transport drivers for more information.

The fact sheet below is a printable version of the school bus exemption from authorisation information.