I have worked in the transport industry for about 15 years, with the vast majority of it being employed as a bus driver. I've done it all - school buses, charters, town services and school excursions. I consider myself to be highly experienced (I've even driven national sporting teams from abroad) and can proudly say I have an unblemished driving record.

This crash, which saw ten people die in 2023 in the NSW Hunter Valley after a wedding, should never have happened. The driver, who survived the crash, had a lengthy history of complaints, traffic infractions and opioid abuse but was given a reference by his previous employer despite being fired for that opioid abuse. His previous employer did not tell the prospective employer about his driving history, nor his prescription drug abuse. I can hazard a guess as to why - fear of legal repercussions if he did not get the job based on what his previous employer said about his true history. It wouldn't have been the first time an ex-employer got sued for not giving a glowing reference for a fired employee.

There needs to be changes made to the industry with regard to reporting, for one thing. In order to work in the industry at present, every driver who operates a passenger bus in NSW must obtain a Bus Driver Authority in order to be employed in that role. Each driver is allocated a unique number, e.g. AB1234. This needs to be tied to their driving record and disciplinary history with their employer and it needs to be accessible by current and future employers. Currently, this is not the case. Employers really need to be able to see if a prospective employee has a history of speeding or traffic offences, or a history of complaints, or a history of drug abuse.

We also need to see the different state systems being able to "talk" to each other and share information and we need to see a uniform set of rules and regulations nationwide so that a person who moves from Victoria to Queensland can apply for work there immediately because the same sets of rules, regulations and medical requirements exist. Having worked at a border town as a bus driver, it's ridiculous that I needed to get two sets of medical assessments (one for each state), two Working With Children Checks (one for each state), two sets of bus driving authorities (one for each state) and provide two sets of driving histories (one for each state). Additionally, one state mandated medical assessments every 12 months while the other was every two or three years, I can't remember which it was. Not only is it laborious, it's expensive for the driver!

The industry has been far safer than those days that lead to the fatal bus crash at Kempsey in 1989, but it still has a long way to go to be up to what I would consider "best practice".

https://www.nine.com.au/australia-news/nsw/hunter-valley-bus-driver-had-27-complaints-history-of-opioid-abuse-before-deadly-crash-review-finds-20260731-p60kfj.html