Chaperones travelling on Greyhound buses with children between the ages of 12 and 14 on regulated routes in Queensland, for the purpose of attending school, will have their fares paid for them by the state government.
The announcement is the latest twist in a campaign begun last September by Blackall-Tambo mayor, Andrew Martin, and others, when the national long distance bus company introduced a policy of having an on-board chaperone for children under the age of 15.
The company blamed “frequent” instances where a parent or guardian wasn’t at departure or arrival points and said its prior policy of taking unaccompanied minors to the nearest police station had impacted on other passengers using the service.
The decision brought an outcry from rural families, one of the main users of inland bus services at certain times of the year, and the group most likely to contain children under 15, who were faced with costly and time-consuming alternatives of flying or driving their children to and from boarding school themselves.
ABSA executive director, Richard Stokes, said its findings showed more than 100 children had been impacted by the decision in Queensland alone, while federal ICPA president, Wendy Hick, said 54 schools around Australia had indicated they had families that had been impacted by the decision.
Cr Martin described Greyhound Australia as having broken faith with a lot of people who had been supporting them for a long time.
All three criticised the company for not engaging in dialogue with affected groups to discuss solutions or alternatives.
The state government initiative announced this week will cover the Longreach – Rockhampton and Emerald – Rockhampton services contracted to Greyhound under the Long Distance Bus and Coach Service contract, which started in January 2015.
It will only cover chaperones travelling from and to the ‘home’ of the unaccompanied child or children but will not be limited to how many times the chaperone travels with the unaccompanied child or children throughout a 12 month period.
According to a government statement, it acknowledged that regional communities faced a number of unique and complex challenges, such as access to education and the ongoing drought.
“Greyhound Australia’s decision in September 2018 to change its ticketing terms and conditions specifically relating to unaccompanied children between the ages of 12 – 14 has also had an impact on regional families, particularly those children attending boarding schools,” it said.
“The Queensland government has decided to assist affected regional families and communities who utilise contracted Queensland government long distance services provided by Greyhound by implementing a new initiative whereby all chaperones travelling with a child or children aged between 12 and 14 for the purposes of attending schools will be paid for by the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TransLink).”
Cr Martin commended the state government for stepping in.
“Had Greyhound spoken to the government and school communities to start with, a list of potential chaperones could have been nominated and we wouldn’t be in this position,” he said.
Cr Martin said it would be interesting to see if Greyhound now altered their policy for commercial routes, where there were alternatives for rural families, such as to Goondiwindi and Charters Towers.
“The other good thing out of this is that other bus companies will have watched and learned and will have a blueprint of what not to do,” he said.
As far as influencing Greyhound decisions in the future, Cr Martin said he and his council could “express cynicism” when expressions of interest for regulated routes were next asked for by the state government.
