Queensland parents push for compulsory school bus seatbelts, 20 years after WA

Every morning, Shannon Crocker puts her sons Henry, 10, and Angus, eight, on a school bus with no seatbelts and feels torn.

"They're precious little people," she said.

For the Crockers, living in Muckadilla west of Roma in Queensland means the daily 80-kilometre school bus round trip is unavoidable.

But more than 20 years after Western Australia mandated seatbelts on all school buses, the rest of the country still allows children to travel unrestrained, often at highway speeds.

"You can get into so much trouble with a kid not having a seatbelt in your car," Ms Crocker said.

Parents and advocates pushing for mandated school bus seatbelts say they are fed up, fearing only a tragedy will spur meaningful change.

While the Crockers were recently told a bus with seatbelts may be introduced on their route, other parents are still waiting.

Angela Hayward, who lives near Chinchilla, said her daughters Zahra, 10, and Evie, nine, also use a bus without seatbelts, causing much anxiety.

"Every day you think about what would happen if they had a crash and they didn't have seatbelts on," Ms Hayward said.

Grey zone

In Australia, passengers must wear a seatbelt if one is fitted in the vehicle.

But in most states, there's no legal requirement for buses to have seatbelts installed.

Only WA mandates belts on all new and existing school buses.

At a recent conference of the Isolated Children's Parents' Association (ICPA) Queensland, parents were outraged to learn there were "no plans to amend legislation" to make seatbelts on school buses mandatory.

A letter from Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg confirmed seatbelts remained optional except on steep terrain routes.

Kindon branch ICPA president Nikki McQueen said the group was "astounded" and voted to formally lobby the government for change.

Mr Mickelberg noted that under Queensland's School Bus Upgrade Scheme, "88 per cent of buses" had been fitted with seatbelts over the past five years, many fully funded by the government.

Sean Dillon, the Assistant Minister for Primary Industry Development, told the ABC at the conference that awareness of the issue had "heightened in recent weeks".

Avoiding tragedy

The lack of regulation affects more than those in the bush.

Alastair Brown, who lives near Gumlu south of Townsville, said his sons, 12 and 14, had travelled daily on the Bruce Highway, often at 100kph, without seatbelts for seven years before they were finally fitted.

"If they are involved in a high-speed crash without a seatbelt, without being properly restrained, children as young as five, there will be fatalities, guaranteed," Mr Brown said.

He called for strong leadership to tackle the issue.

"I'm yet to find one [politician] who genuinely wants to take the issue forward and offer genuine solutions," Mr Brown said.

"We as parents have come up against roadblock after roadblock.

"We want to see action sooner rather than later."

Federal reforms slowly coming

Vehicle standards introduced by the federal government in response to the Hunter Valley bus crash that killed 10 people and injured 25 will require seatbelts in new bus models manufactured after November 2026.

That will extend to all models by 2027, but key exemptions remain.

Retrofitting older buses is not mandatory and "route service" buses — those that operate on defined routes such as school runs — and buses with fewer than 17 seats, are not required to comply with the design rules.

At the time, the federal Assistant Minister for Regional Development Anthony Chisholm said he was working with the states and territories to strengthen rules.

"These changes won't just improve safety for new buses manufactured after November 2026," he said.

"They'll also set the industry benchmark standard for safety, which can be used to improve the safety standards applied for all existing buses."

But various governments have long cited high costs and logistical challenges as a barrier to mandating seatbelts in buses.

In 2007, Queensland's transport minister estimated a $1 billion price tag, noting that retrofitting older buses could be difficult due to rollover compliance and reducing seating capacity.

It is unclear if that figure has decreased.

But for safety advocates like Susan Teerds, the chief executive of Kidsafe and member of the Australasian College of Road Safety, the excuses no longer hold up.

"Often it is a disaster that gets changes." 

Ms Teerds praised WA's model, pointing to the broader consequences of inaction.

"When a person or a child is seriously or fatally injured, the cost to the economy is huge," she said.

"The cost to the health system is huge.

"The emotional cost to the families and the community that person or child lives in is huge."