Bus safety screens installed on all Territory buses

All buses in Darwin and Alice Springs now have safety screens installed, in an effort to protect drivers on the job, marking a win for the transport safety union.

All buses in Darwin and Alice Springs now have safety screens installed, in an effort to protect drivers on the job.

It comes after two recent attacks on bus drivers, and months of lobbying from the Transport Workers’ Union NT for screens to be installed in every bus.

When the CLP came to government, only 17 of the 79 buses in the Territory fleet had upgraded safety screens and progress had stalled over the past nine months.

Logistics and Infrastructure Minister Bill Yan said safety was a top priority for the government.

“Territorians gave us a very clear mandate to reduce crime, rebuild the economy and restore our iconic lifestyle, and that is exactly what we are doing,” Mr Yan said.

“Everyone has the right to be safe at work and violence and cowardly assaults against our frontline workers’ is completely unacceptable.”

NT Infrastructure and Logistics Minister Bill Yan. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

In September a bus driver was repeatedly kicked in the head by a passenger in a horrifying incident while they were driving on the Stuart Highway in Pinelands.

Just weeks later in Ludmilla, a passenger attempted to stab a driver, jumping up and leaning over an old protection screen.

The Transport Workers’ Union NT branch welcomed the new driver protection screens and congratulated its members for “their relentless commitment to campaigning”.

“Recent events on our network have been extremely serious and the installation of protection screens could prevent a catastophe,” SA/NT branch secretary Sam McIntosh said.

“Drivers must be safe in the workplace and our community should expect to be safe when travelling on our public transport network.

“Today’s announcement that there is now an improved protection screen on every bus marks an essential step towards making that happen.”

Last month the CLP introduced mandatory sentencing for assaults on frontline workers.

In cases where a bus driver is hurt by a someone with a record of violent offending, that offender will be forced to spend actual time behind bars. Previously no mandatory imprisonment applied.

Someone without a record who hurts a driver will now face a mandatory Community Correction Order.

Mr Yan said: “We are behind our frontline workers entirely, and these protective screens and this legislation will ensure our bus drivers can get on with their job of transporting Territorians to their location safely.

“Our discussions with the TWU remain constructive and we’ll continue working with the Union to ensure their members are kept safe.”

Bus travel in the Territory is free until mid next year.

Originally published as Bus safety screens installed on all Territory buses