Safety duties and duty holders for road-based public passenger services

Safety duties are responsibilities for people who can influence the safety of a road-based public passenger service. This includes services provided using buses (light and heavy), taxis and booked hire vehicles, and other vehicles used to provide public passenger services. These people, called duty holders, must do what is reasonably practicable to eliminate or reduce safety risks in the services they provide.

These safety duties do not apply to light rail vehicles. They also do not apply to services provided by volunteer associations by their volunteers, who do not have duties under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act).

What does 'reasonably practicable' mean

Reasonably practicable means doing what can reasonably be done at a given time to meet a duty, considering all factors, such as:

  • how likely it is that a safety risk or property damage could occur
  • the potential harm or damage that could result
  • what you know, or should reasonably know, about the risk or damage
  • what you know, or should reasonably know, about ways to
    • remove or reduce the risk
      or
    • prevent or reduce the damage
  • whether those methods are available and suitable
  • the cost of those methods, including whether the cost is excessive compared to the likelihood of the risk or damage.

Duty holders

Duty holders must do what is reasonably practicable to eliminate or reduce safety risks in the services they provide.

The following people are duty holders for road-based public passenger services:

  • an operator of the service
  • a registered operator of a motor vehicle used to provide the service
  • the driver of a motor vehicle used to provide the service
  • a booking service provider for the service
  • a holder of a booked hire service licence, taxi service licence or limousine licence for a motor vehicle used to provide a personalised transport the service
  • the entity's local nominee, if an authorised booking entity who provides booking services for the service is a foreign person
  • a person who is contracted by a volunteer association that provides a public passenger service to drive a motor vehicle provided by the service.

'Operator' means an entity carrying on the business of providing a public passenger service.

'Booking service provider' means an entity who provides booking services for a personalised transport service, and includes an authorised booking entity.

Responsible duty holders

Responsible duty holders are duty holders who have additional responsibilities. A responsible duty holder is any of the following duty holders:

Operator of the service

This includes:

  • operator accreditation holders
  • organisations that provide passenger transport as part of their services and are exempt from holding operator accreditation
  • operators of personalised transport services, such as taxi companies, taxi management companies or a person who manages vehicles and driver shifts, including depot-based operations.

Booking service provider for the service

This includes:

It does not include:

  • a travel agent or hotel concierge booking transport for a customer

Requirements for responsible duty holders

If you are a responsible duty holder for a road-based public passenger service, you must:

Learn more about who must have an SMP.

Duties and responsibilities of duty holders

Duty holders involved in road-based public passenger services have clearly defined responsibilities to ensure safety, as set out in Chapter 6A of the Transport Operations (Passenger Transport) Act 1994. These duties vary depending on the person's role and level of control, but all are aimed at keeping people safe and reducing risks.

  • 67N Primary duty of care generally

    Each duty holder for a road-based public passenger service must ensure their activities, including how they run their business and make decisions, are carried out safely. This includes taking actions to eliminate or reduce risks.

    Each duty holder must also make sure their actions do not, directly or indirectly, encourage anyone else (including other duty holders for the service) to break transport laws related to providing road-based public passenger services or the vehicles used for these services.

  • 67O Primary duty of care of driver

    As a driver, you must take care of your own safety and do what you reasonably can to avoid putting others at risk. For example, drivers must:

    • not drive when tired
    • properly secure wheelchairs
    • follow transport laws.

    You also need to follow any reasonable instructions or policies and procedures set by another duty holder, to help everyone meet their safety responsibilities.

  • 67P Duty of executive officer of corporation—where the corporation has a safety duty

    Executive officers must make sure the corporation follows safety laws. You can be found guilty of breaking the law even if the corporation itself isn't. This means you must take reasonable steps to:

    • learn about safe work practices and keep your knowledge up to date
    • understand what the corporation does and what hazards and risks are involved
    • make sure the corporation has the right resources to eliminate or reduce these hazards and risks
    • make sure the corporation has processes in place to
      • eliminate or reduce hazards and risks
      • collect, consider and respond quickly to information about hazards, risks and any incidents
      • comply with the corporation's safety duty.
    • check that all these resources and processes are in place and being used properly.
    'Executive officer' of a corporation is defined as a person who is concerned with, or takes part in, the corporation's management, whether or not the person is a director or the person's position is given the name of executive officer.

  • About safety management plans (67ZA, 67ZB, 67ZC)

    A responsible duty holder for a road-based public passenger service must have a safety management plan (SMP).

    An SMP is a written document that outlines how a responsible duty holder will:

    The SMP for a responsible duty holder must meet certain requirements. Learn more about how to develop your SMP and what your SMP must include.

    A responsible duty holder must also ensure their SMP is implemented.

Additional responsibilities for duty holders

Some people may have additional safety responsibilities because of the different ways services are delivered, and the different roles people have. These extra duties take into account how much control a person has to eliminate or reduce safety risks based on their role. However, these additional responsibilities do not replace or reduce the main duty of care listed above.

  • As much as is reasonably practicable, operators must:

    • have systems in place to identify and manage safety risks
    • monitor and review safety risks
    • make sure vehicles are safe and properly maintained
    • promote safety and encourage all employees, contractors, drivers, and others involved to follow their duties
    • ensure any equipment or systems used in, or in conjunction with the operation of, vehicles are safely installed, used, and maintained
    • implement a process to monitor drivers and others to make sure services are delivered safely
    • provide enough information, training, and instructions so everyone involved can do their job safely.
    'Operator' means an entity carrying on the business of providing a public passenger service

  • The registered operator of a motor vehicle must, as far as is reasonably practicable:

    • make sure the vehicle is provided and maintained in a safe condition
    • make sure any equipment or systems used in the vehicle are fitted, operated and maintained in a safe condition, and are regularly tested and examined.
    A 'registered operator of a motor vehicle' is someone who has the vehicle registered in their name under transport law or has notified the chief executive that they want the vehicle to be registered in their name.

  • Booking service providers must, so far as is reasonably practicable:

    • have systems in place to identify and manage safety risks
    • regularly check and update how risks are managed
    • promote safety and encourage all employees, contractors, drivers, and others involved to follow their duties
    • give drivers and others involved enough information, training, and instruction to work safely
    • implement a process to check that drivers and others are providing services safely
    • implement a procedure so drivers and others know about any safety equipment they need to use.
    'Booking service provider' means an entity that provides booking services for a personalised transport service, and includes an authorised booking entity.

  • Holders of a booked hire service licence, taxi service licence, or limousine licence must, so far as is reasonably practicable:

    • act quickly to eliminate or reduce any safety risks that are found
    • promote safe practices and encourage all employees, contractors, drivers, and others involved to follow their safety duties.

Fatigue management responsibilities

Operators and authorised booking service providers of road-based public passenger services have additional safety obligations to manage driver fatigue.

These entities must keep records for each driver providing the service, including the days and times they are driving or available to drive. If requested, this information must be given to the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) to support compliance and safety oversight.

Operators complying with the heavy vehicle national law (HVNL) requirements do not need to duplicate fatigue records.

Shared responsibilities of duty holders for safety

Everyone involved in providing road-based public passenger services shares responsibility for ensuring activities are carried out safety. A person's level and type of responsibility depends on:

  • the work they do or are expected to do, whether regularly or occasionally
  • the types of safety risks involved in that work
  • how much control they have to eliminate or reduce those risks.

Multiple duties and shared responsibilities

  • A person may have more than 1 safety duty.
  • More than 1 person can share the same duty at the same time.
  • Each person must meet their own responsibilities, even if someone else has the same duty.

Extent of responsibility

If multiple people share a duty, each person is responsible for fulfilling their part to the extent of their ability. A safety duty cannot be passed on to someone else.

Agreements or contracts cannot be used to avoid or transfer safety duties. Even if someone else is contracted to perform the activity, the original duty holder remains responsible for ensuring the safety duty is met.

Simply complying with transport laws or safety regulations does not automatically mean a person has fulfilled their safety duty.

Duty holders must take responsibility for their safety obligations, regardless of shared duties or contractual arrangements. They must actively ensure safety risks are managed within their capacity.

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