NSW Uber drivers accused of sexual misconduct stay on roads audit says

Audit reveals Uber drivers accused of sexual misconduct stay on roads

Words: David Swan Producer: Bianca Farmakis

This story discusses sexual assault. If you, or anyone you know needs support, contact: Lifeline 13 11 14 Beyond Blue 1300 224 636 1800-RESPECT 1800 737 732

Uber has allowed almost all of its drivers accused by passengers of sexual misconduct to remain on its platform — in contravention of the company’s policies — according to a confidential audit by the NSW government.

The report, completed in July 2021 by the Point to Point Transport Commissioner, found in 94 per cent of sexual misconduct complaints, the drivers "were not removed from the platform, which is inconsistent with Uber’s stated policy".

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The report revealed some drivers had multiple complaints — including incidents of sexual misconduct, phone-related distracted driving — yet continued to operate on the platform. The commission issued Uber with 13 improvement notes and fined the company $200,000.

"The drivers with multiple incidents remain undetected and active in the platform."

NSW government report NSW government report

14 October 2019 | Uber identified 211 notifiable occurrences since 2017 that had not been reported. A new system logic has since been introduced to capture these types of incidents.

29 March 2021 | A fter looking at 23,625 complainant messages from January 1, 2019, to July 31, 2020, Uber noted 524 notifiable occurrences had been identified which should have been reported.

Separate incident reports lodged with the commission and obtained by The Australian also provided insight into the day-to-day lives of some Uber drivers.

In one incident, the driver "noticed the riders discussing a small bag of what appeared to be an illicit substance... they had a larger bag with them on the back seat in which the [driver] reported they saw a gun," the report read.

The audit also revealed 11,283 of Uber driver shifts sampled over two weeks had exceeded 12 hours. Of those, 218 worked between 15 to 17 hours, while another 701 shifts ran for between 14 to 15 hours.

"For all sexual assault or serious sexual misconduct incidents we remove access to the account of the person in question while we look into the matter. We also assist in police investigations and routinely support law enforcement to help keep bad actors out of the rideshare industry".

Uber spokesperson Uber spokesperson