Thursday, 23 February 2023

Greater Shepparton school bus services

Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (17:28): (62) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education. It again concerns the current inadequacies of the school bus program in Greater Shepparton. The action that I seek is for the minister to work with the Minister for Public Transport and once and for all sort out the mess this government has created in school bus transport for Greater Shepparton Secondary College students by conducting a full audit of Shepparton’s school bus transport to ensure adequate buses are provided to accommodate all students’ transport needs.

One of the major problems since the creation of the Greater Shepparton Secondary College has been the inadequate number of buses operating to safely transport students to and from school. My office is constantly hearing stories of buses being overcrowded, with the unsafe practice of students being forced to stand in aisles a regular occurrence. I have raised the issue many times with the previous minister and also with the current Minister for Public Transport, but each minister just points a finger at the other with neither taking responsibility.

Parents have lodged official complaints with Public Transport Victoria and the Greater Shepparton Secondary College, but no action has been taken to rectify the problem and concerning incidents continue to occur. The latest disturbing incident occurred in just the second week of the school year and involved several children at a bus stop in Kialla. On Monday 6 February several students were at the bus stop and were lining up to board an already overcrowded bus. The bus driver advised the children to enter the bus via the rear door, but as the students were walking to the rear door the driver reportedly closed all the doors and departed, leaving the students stranded on the side of the road.

This incident was reported in the Shepparton News, who approached the school, the department of education and the department of transport for comment on the issue. The department of transport referred the News to the department of education, and the department of education said public transport to and from school in the urban areas of Shepparton and Mooroopna is run by the department of transport. Does that sound familiar? The department of education did say Greater Shepparton Secondary College was working with the department of transport and the local bus company to investigate this complaint, but questions from the newspaper to both departments about safety, overcrowding and more were left unanswered.

These incidents and the ongoing transport problems with the Greater Shepparton school bus program are impacting the emotional health of some students, who feel unsafe and intimidated when travelling on such crowded buses each day. The Andrews Labor government has a duty of care to ensure that all students using the school bus program get to school and home safely. I call on the minister to address these issues.