Service provider obligations for managing drivers

Providers of passenger services must ensure that their drivers are properly screened. Drivers must have no disqualifying offences, and they must meet all eligibility criteria. This fact sheet explains disqualifying offences, eligibility criteria and the responsibilities of the service provider in managing their drivers.

The passenger service provider’s role in managing drivers

Providers of passenger services must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that all of their drivers are eligible and none of them have disqualifying offences. The last two pages of this fact sheet contain tables which explain the information required for each of the eligibility criteria and disqualifying offences.

During an audit, a service provider must be able to demonstrate to the Point to Point Transport Commissioner how they track and manage the suitability of their drivers. This may be automated, or it may require drivers to present updated records, such as criminal history checks, at regular intervals to the service provider.  

Disqualifying Offences

In order to drive a taxi or hire vehicle (including rideshare), a driver must not have any disqualifying offences. An authorised service provider must check a driver’s criminal history before they start to drive; and continue to check their criminal history for as long as they use that driver’s services.

There are three types of disqualifying offences (see table in the attached fact sheet for more detail):

1. Disqualifying criminal offences
2. Disqualifying serious driving offences
3. Disqualifying Point to Point transport offences

For more information on disqualifying offences, please refer to our fact sheet on disqualifying offences.

Eligibility Criteria

In order to drive a taxi or hire vehicle (including rideshare), a driver must be eligible and meet all of the eligibility criteria (see table on page 5 for more detail). These are:

1. They meet the medical standards for commercial vehicle drivers.
2. They hold an unrestricted Australian driver licence and have held an unrestricted Australian driver licence for a total of at least 12 months in the preceding four years.
3. They have not had a previous driver authority under the Passenger Transport Act 1990 or Passenger Transport Act 2014 cancelled, or an application for such an authority refused, in the preceding 10 years.

The Driver Vehicle Dashboard

The Point to Point Transport Commissioner offers the Driver Vehicle Dashboard (DVD) as a tool to help with the on-going management of drivers. Use of the tool is optional, but you will see in the table on the following page that using the DVD is an excellent way to help manage and monitor driver requirements and eligibility.

It is important to understand that the DVD will not provide you with the full background of a driver and you will need to have appropriate processes in place to ensure a driver does not have a disqualifying offence or is ineligible to drive a taxi, hire or rideshare vehicle. You may require a driver to provide you with a National Criminal History (NCH) Check and driver licence history to determine if they have a pre-existing disqualifying offence.

For more information, consult the DVD user guide which can be found in the Learning Centre on the Point to Point Transport Commissioner’s website.

Affiliated provider responsibilities

An affiliated provider is a provider of a passenger service and therefore has the following obligations:

• A primary duty of care to ensure safety so far as is reasonably practicable.
• Responsibility for ensuring their drivers comply with all eligibility requirements.
• Adherence to all specified safety standards.

For more information see the affiliated provider fact sheet.

Complete table of provider responsibilities

Please download the fact sheet attached below for a complete table which explains in detail the requirements on service providers for checking eligibility and disqualifying offences.

FAQs

What is the difference between a NCH Check and a Police Check?

There are several organisations from which a National Criminal History Check can be obtained - one of these is the NSW Police Service. When you obtain a NCH Check from the NSW Police, it is called a Police Check.

Do I need an NCH Check if I already have a Working with Children Check (WWC)?

Yes, a WWC check is not as comprehensive as a NCH check.