Eight-year-old Sienna Schubert is worried how she’ll get to school next week after the government said she couldn’t have a bus pass.
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The Year 3 student at Mt Brown Public got knocked back because she lives 100 metres too close to school.
Transport for NSW bus pass eligibility rules states students in Years 3-6 have to live at least 2.3 kilometres walking distance from school.
Sienna lives 2.2 kilometres away – so no free travel, says Transport for NSW.
The budget is tight at Sienna’s home so paying for the bus will be tough.
And mother Rebecca Townsend’s health problems make it hard to walk her to and from school every day.
Since the start of school, Sienna’s been using last year’s Opal travel pass, but the bus driver told her last week they would stop accepting it from Monday.
“When she came home she said ‘I’ve only got one more week to use this. What’s going to happen?’,” Ms Townsend says.
“She’s having a stress attack, she’s freaking now because she knows that money’s tight, that we’re on a budget and we have to stick to it.”
Ms Townsend says she suffers from depression and anxiety, which make leaving the house “a big issue”.
“If I’m unwell it’s so much easier to know that she can get on the bus at the end of the driveway, she gets to school safely and returns in the afternoon,” she says.
“It’s not like I’m asking for a travel pass for her to go around the countryside, it’s just for her to be safe to and from school.”
The walking distances for bus pass eligibility have been in place since 1996.
A Transport for NSW spokesman said the free transport scheme was used by more than 565,000 students across the state.
He was unable to comment on specific instances but said a discounted term bus pass was available for purchase.
Parents could also ask for an independent review of a decision to refuse a bus pass.
“Parents who believe that an eligibility decision should be reviewed for any reason, or who believe there are exceptional circumstances which should be taken into account, can have the issue heard by an independent appeals panel which includes parent groups,” he said.
Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
