Commonwealth public servants anxious about looming job cuts may be forgiven for considering alternate career options, but the prospect of working as an ACTION Bus driver may not be first on their preference list.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Despite being described as an exhausting and occasionally dangerous job, an ACTION Bus driver is paid just a few hundred dollars less than an APS level four worker at $68,179 a year, while a public service graduate may find themselves earning more behind-the-wheel at $61,461.
A Territory and Municipal Services spokesman said the salaries were worth an equivalent of $34.39 an hour for a fully trained driver and $31 an hour for a trainee.
"The rate of pay is an inclusive composite rate and includes some public holiday rates, shift penalty payments, overtime rates and related arrangements, annual leave loading or shift penalties in lieu of leaving loading, meal allowances and work practice change," he said.
While that may sound like a healthy a spread of entitlements, Transport Workers Union ACT Secretary Klaus Pinkas said any public servants considering a career change should be aware of the challenges bus drivers face.
"They get assaulted, abused, have to drive to timetables that they often think are unrealistic, and endure split shifts with long gaps in the middle," he said.
In May, a female ACTION bus driver was punched in the face by a passenger thought to be in his mid-20s and was left bloodied inside the bus. In December, another driver was left with a broken nose after allegedly being hit by a passenger in Griffith.
"It can be a very tough job when you start out too as you are only given part-time work with a guaranteed 20 hours a week," Mr Pinkas said.
The Territory and Municipal Services spokesman said bus drivers are also responsible for a number of people and carrying out various duties throughout their day.
"[Responsibilities] include the safety of passengers, heavy vehicle license requirements, passenger accreditation, working with vulnerable people, revenue protection and fare collection, health and safety," he said.
Despite that, Mr Pinkas said it was a reasonable job and many bus drivers had been working in the ACT for close to 30 years.
"There's a call for more bus drivers in the ACT and they're recruiting all the time," she said. "At the moment they're running though new inductees every month."
There are currently 659 full-time equivalent bus drivers in the ACT.
