Eligibility

Who is eligible?

To be eligible, applicants will need to be a bus operator having an existing contract with a state/territory government to provide school bus services on a recognised rural and regional school bus route. State, territory and local governments are not eligible to apply.

Applicants need to be licensed/accredited by a state/territory government to provide the services.

For the purposes of the program a rural and regional school bus service will:

• be identified by the state/territory regulatory authority as a high risk route recognised under the voluntary National Guidelines for Risk Assessment of School Bus Routes [DOC: 57 KB]; or
• be operated over roads that include speed zones over 80 km/h, that do not fall within a mainland state capital metropolitan area.

What buses and activities are eligible?

The subsidy is available for eligible school buses to fit lap/sash seatbelts and perform any other associated engineering work including wheelchair restraint systems. All work is required to meet the national vehicle standards under the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989 and/or state/territory vehicle modification requirements as applicable.

An eligible bus is a newly manufactured or existing school bus in the operators fleet. It does not include a bus recognised as a coach bus. The bus must be approved by a state/territory government for, and currently used or earmarked for, a contracted state/territory school bus route defined as rural and regional. A newly manufactured school bus must be fitted with integrated seats and lap/sash seatbelts that meet Australian Design Rule (ADR) ADR 68 Occupant Protection in Buses, and be registered with a relevant state/territory transport authority. An existing bus must be intended for retro-fitment of lap/sash seatbelts, and be approved by the state/territory government transport authority. Used buses that are purchased with seatbelts already fitted are not eligible.

Any contracts to purchase buses or undertake retro-fit work must have been entered into after 19 September 2007 to be eligible.

The subsidies will not be available for a bus where the cost of fitting or retro-fitting seatbelts has been met from an existing state/territory program. However, where a state/territory program for seatbelts funds a portion of the total cost of the installation of the belts, an operator may apply for a subsidy for the remaining portion of the cost, including associated engineering work, up to a limit of $25,000.