Recruitment and Retention

On the same bus

The BIC Council and members of APTIA, the industrial arm of BIC, provided funds through a special levy to undertake extensive qualitative research to identify the underlying factors impacting the image of the bus and coach industry. The aim was to make recommendations that would improve recruitment and retention of drivers across the industry.

The research undertaken for the BIC and APTIA Recruitment and Retention Project has identified a range of structural problems that are negatively impacting the bus and coach industry, its image and culture. This manifesto aims to address these structural and policy failings through a series of recommendations.

A second document titled Workplace Culture Toolkit and Operator Guidelines provides a raft of interventions that operators could implement to improve workplace culture and current recruitment and retention rates.

Australian Public Transport Industrial Association elections

The AEC has recently completed an election for the Australian Public Transport Industrial Association.

Report requirements
After the completion of an election under the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 (the Act) the AEC is required to prepare a post-election report. The report must cover the matters set out in section 141 of the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Regulations 2009 (the Regulations).

This includes:
(a) a declaration of the results
(b) any rules of the organisation or branch which because of ambiguity or other reason, were difficult to interpret or apply
(c) any matters in relation to the roll of voters
(d) the number of written allegations (if any) of irregularities made to the AEC during the election
(e) action taken by the AEC in relation to those allegations
(f) any other irregularities identified by the AEC and action taken by the AEC in relation to those other irregularities.

The AEC is required to identify adverse rules in the report. An adverse rule is one that the returning officer found difficult to interpret or apply to the election. The organisation must respond in writing to the AEC to any adverse rules within 30 days of the date of this post-election report.

Report findings
The AEC has also identified 1 (one) rule that could be improved by reference to the model rules. Model rules for elections were published on 30 June 2025 by the Fair Work Commission. The AEC recommends all organisations consider whether their rules could be improved or updated by reference to those rules.