Safety duty offences for road-based public passenger services

New safety management framework for all road-based public passenger services

20 February 2026—The new framework started. Existing industry service providers who continue to comply with the previous framework will have 6 months to transition. New service providers must comply straight away.

20 August 2026—All industry service providers must comply, and safety management plans are mandatory.

This page explains the changes that started with the new framework. Learn more about the new safety management framework.

All duty holders of road-based public passenger services must comply with safety duties, safety management plan requirements, audit notices and directions to comply.

If a duty holder has not complied with their safety duties, they may be issued a penalty infringement notice (PIN) or a written direction to comply with the relevant legislation. Non-compliance with a duty to comply may result in us issuing a notice to amend, suspend or cancel an accreditation, authorisation, a licence or a service contract.

Not following safety requirements could have serious safety consequences. The penalties are graduated to reflect this. Overall, the penalties are proportionate to each other, and to the risk involved.

What is a penalty unit

A penalty unit is a set dollar amount used to calculate fines. The penalty unit value increases annually on 1 July by a percentage set by the Treasurer. To find the value of a fine, multiply the number of penalty units for the offence by the current value of 1 penalty unit.

Offences and penalties

The offences and penalties for not following these safety responsibilities are set out in Chapter 6A of the Transport Operations (Passenger Transport) Act 1994 (TOPTA) and in the Transport Operations (Passenger Transport) Regulation 2018 (TOPTR) are listed below:

Section Description of offence Penalty infringement notice (PIN) Maximum penalty
TOPTA 67P(1) Executive officer of corporation fails to exercise due diligence to ensure corporation complies with safety duty   Equivalent to penalty for individual for 67V(1), 67W and 67X
TOPTA 67V(1) Reckless conduct—category 1—recklessly contravening a safety duty that exposes individual/s to risk of death or serious injury   Individual—3,000 penalty units or 5 years imprisonment

Corporation—30,000 penalty units
TOPTA 67W Failure to comply with duty—category 2—contravention of safety duty that exposes individual/s to risk of death or serious injury   Individual—1,500 penalty units

Corporation—15,000 penalty units
TOPTA 67X Failure to comply with duty—category 3—contravention of safety duty   Individual—500 penalty units

Corporation—5,000 penalty units
TOPTA 67ZC(1) Failure of a responsible duty holder to have a compliant safety management plan   Individual—100 penalty units

Corporation—1,000 penalty units
TOPTA 67ZC(2)Failure of a responsible duty holder to implement the safety management plan Individual—100 penalty units

Corporation—1,000 penalty units
TOPTA 67ZC(4) Failure of a duty holder to comply with a responsible duty holder's plan to the extent applicable   Individual—100 penalty units

Corporation—1,000 penalty units
TOPTA 67ZF Failure to comply with audit notice 16 penalty units 160 penalty units
TOPTA 67ZH(5) Contravening a direction to comply 16 penalty units

Where a direction has been issued for:

  • Non-compliance that exposes an individual to a risk of death or serious injury—320 penalty units
  • Otherwise—160 penalty units
TOPTR 276A(2)Failure of a responsible duty holder to record the reason for conducting a review of a safety management plan, and the outcomes of the review in a written report 20 penalty units
TOPTR 276A(4)Failure of a responsible duty holder to keep a copy of a superseded safety management plan for at least 5 years 20 penalty units

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