CLAUSE 01Making a booking

Quotes

Prepared from the details you give us and valid for 14 days. A quote changes if your requirements change, and it does not hold a vehicle.

Tentative holds

Kept for three business days, then released unless a deposit is paid.

Confirmation

Your written acceptance plus the deposit. Nothing said over the phone is binding.

What is included

Depot-to-depot pricing covering GST, fuel, insurance, distance and an authorised driver. Hourly hire in metropolitan Sydney carries at least two added hours for depot travel, more if the time of day, traffic or number of stops demands it.

How we price

The vehicle and the work set the price; empty seats do not lower it. Two travellers in a 12-seater pay what twelve would. Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays carry penalty rates.

Declining

We may decline any booking without giving reasons.

Back to top

CLAUSE 02Payment

Deposit

20% of the total booking value, non-refundable, unless we agree otherwise in writing. It locks in your vehicle and driver.

Non-payment

An unpaid service is cancelled and treated as non-cancelled, so 100% is payable. Not paying is never a cancellation.

Bonds

Expect to lodge a bond for overnight-hour work, very large parties, events with a higher risk profile, and school or youth travel. Any overtime, waiting, cancellation, damage, cleaning, fine, parking or toll cost tied to the booking may be taken from it or from your card on file, and you authorise that.

Overdue invoices

Interest at 10% per year from the due date, plus our reasonable recovery costs (legal and agency fees included), whatever the outcome.

Paying us

Quote your Booking ID on every payment, and your invoice number on bank transfers. Receipts are emailed. No cash, no cheques; drivers never handle money.

Cards attract Square’s Payment Processing Fee, set at 2.25% of the card amount. Treat it as Square’s administration fee for putting the card payment through; it is not a credit card surcharge. Fees appear as separate lines on your tax invoice.

Back to top

CLAUSE 03Cancellation fees

Cancel by email to charterbushiresydney@gmail.com. It takes effect when we reply to acknowledge it. Phone calls and missed payments do not cancel a booking. A booking that is never cancelled in writing, or is not used after the vehicle leaves our depot, is charged in full. Fees are a percentage of the whole invoice, including all charges.

Discretion

We may reduce or waive a fee in exceptional circumstances, at our sole discretion.

Terminated trips

No refund if we end a service because of misconduct, a breach of these terms, alcohol, or a safety risk created by your instructions.

If we cannot run

A breakdown or other event we could not reasonably control may stop a job. If so, you get back the unrun portion, which is all we owe. We will look for a replacement vehicle, but missed events, onward costs and other indirect losses are not covered.

Contracts

Regular school runs and ongoing contracts follow their own contract terms, or this scale if none exists. School excursions use the scale in Clause 20.

Back to top

CLAUSE 04Changing a booking

We do not offer credits, deferrals or postponements. A new date is handled as a cancellation of the original job and a brand-new booking. We check availability when you ask; it is never guaranteed and cannot be held without a deposit on the new booking.

If the date you want is full, your options are to cancel (the fee scale counts from the original date), to travel on the original date for no extra charge, or to hold on and hope space appears. Holding on leaves the original booking and its fees fully active, and we have no duty to call you if a gap opens. That is a poor bet in the final week: hold until day three, cancel then, and 80% is gone. A second or third date change is another $110.00 each, and we can say no to repeat requests that upset the roster.

Other amendments must be in writing and depend on availability. After confirmation, an administration fee applies in addition to any rate difference.

Back to top

CLAUSE 05Pricing, surcharges and overtime

Waiting time

15 minutes free from the booked departure time, then $30.00 per 15 minutes for minibuses (12 to 24 seats) or $50.00 per 15 minutes for coaches (34 to 62 seats).

Extra stops

From $10 for a small detour, $25 in the same area and $50 for another suburb or longer route. Regional or interstate stops are quoted.

Itemised extras

Tolls at heavy vehicle rates (at cost), paid parking at the airport, Central Station, Sydney Olympic Park, venues and elsewhere, park and venue entry, overtime, late vehicle changes and extra passengers, cleaning from $88 including GST, biohazard fees, amendment fees, overnight driver costs, and fines from an illegal stop you nominated.

Overtime

15 minutes’ grace after the booked finish, then minimum one-hour blocks at the vehicle’s hourly rate, whatever the reason (late events, venue delays, late boarding, extra stops, longer breaks).

Traffic

No overtime for the part of an overrun caused only by unforeseeable traffic. Normal Sydney peak congestion is foreseeable and already priced in. Late inbound flights fall under Clause 15.

Repricing

Allowed for a material fuel rise, legal changes that materially raise costs, or incorrect booking details.

Loadings apply to the affected portion of a service, including overtime in those periods. A service starting between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am counts as out-of-hours throughout and carries a minimum out-of-hours charge however short; the rate, not a minimum duration, sets the price. Holidays include New Year’s Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Monday, Anzac Day, the King’s Birthday, Bank Holiday, Labour Day, Christmas and Boxing Day. Anzac Day is fixed on 25 April (Public Holidays Act 2010 (NSW)); if a weekend Anzac Day brings a declared Monday holiday, both days are surcharged. Checking your date is up to you.

Allow enough time

Our times are estimates. We are not liable for delays, or missed flights and events, caused by traffic, closures, accidents, weather, compulsory driver rest or anything else outside our control, so consider travel or event insurance. Allow 3.5 hours before an international flight and 2.5 hours before a domestic one, 30 minutes before an event starts, and an extra 30 to 90 minutes between 7:00 am and 9:30 am or 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm. Coaches are legally limited to 100 km/h, so car travel times will understate the trip.

Back to top

CLAUSE 06Vehicle allocation

Seats, not models

We allocate a vehicle with enough seats for your confirmed numbers. Make, model, layout and livery are not guaranteed unless agreed in writing, and the vehicle on the day may differ from the one quoted, depending on fleet availability and scheduling. A substitute always has at least the same capacity.

Big groups

Can be split across vehicles. However we divide you, each passenger with a paid booking gets a lawful seat with its own belt, as the Passenger Transport Act 2014 (NSW) requires.

Fewer passengers

The fare stays the same.

More passengers

Tell us straight away. Extra transport on the day is not guaranteed, extra people may not be carried, nobody travels over legal capacity, and short-notice vehicles may cost more. We are not liable when people cannot travel because numbers rose or were not disclosed. Book for your maximum.

Subcontractors

The fleet and drivers are our own. If something out of the ordinary strikes, a breakdown or a sick driver for example, another operator holding Transport for NSW accreditation may cover the job under these same terms. We will let you know quickly, and you still deal with us.

Signage

Nothing goes on a vehicle without our written approval.

Back to top

CLAUSE 07Driver hours and fatigue

Every driver on our roster carries a current NSW Driver Authority and the heavy vehicle licence class their vehicle demands. Fatigue law under the Heavy Vehicle National Law applies to them, and hirers have no power to relax it. Behind the wheel, the driver is in charge of safety and can depart from the planned route whenever safety or the law demands. Our in-house limits go further than the national rule (5.5 hours of work, then 15 minutes off):

Work time is broader than driving: inspections, cleaning, fuelling, helping passengers, handling bags and paperwork all count. A break means a solid block with no duties, and it cannot be dropped or trimmed, so plan your day around it. Send us an honest itinerary that lists every stop and wait, and never lean on a driver for more hours or tighter timings; Chain of Responsibility law can make the hirer personally liable for that. To keep a job lawful we may rework the plan, add a relief driver, move times or decline the job. Where the law requires an extra driver, a room or a revised schedule, you pay for it, and we will warn you ahead wherever we can. Compliance delays are not our liability.

Back to top

CLAUSE 08Safety standards

Our accreditation sits under the Transport for NSW Bus Operator Accreditation Scheme. The vehicles we allocate are accredited, kept to Transport for NSW maintenance standards and serviced to schedule. Drivers inspect them at the start of every shift, and inspectors may check them at any time, at the depot or by the roadside. Expect air-conditioning, a belt on every seat and, on coaches, a 100 km/h speed limiter. Drivers are licensed for the class they drive, and anyone assigned to school work carries a valid Working With Children Check (Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012 (NSW)).

Back to top

CLAUSE 09Onboard rules

As hirer, you answer for your passengers’ behaviour from boarding to drop-off and must brief them on these rules beforehand.

Food and drink

No food, takeaway or hot drinks; bottled water is fine. NSW regulation bans eating and drinking on buses (fines up to $550), and it risks choking, burns and allergen exposure. A passenger with a medical need, such as diabetes, tells the driver at boarding.

Dress

Shirt or top, shorts, trousers or skirt, and shoes. Drivers may turn away anyone not dressed this way, especially when the venue has its own dress code.

Banned items

Alcohol of any kind; cigarettes and vapes; glassware; fuel cans and generators; boots with spikes or cleats; unlawful drugs (everyday medicines are fine); dangerous goods; large quantities of food or perishables; and balloons or decorations unless approved in writing.

Refusal and removal

Drivers can refuse a passenger, ask them to leave or end the service where someone is visibly affected by drink or drugs, is abusive, threatening or breaking the law, smokes or vapes, eats or drinks banned items, appears contagious (a condition notifiable under the Public Health Act 2010 (NSW) included), will not follow a lawful instruction, has breached these terms before, or is not dressed to standard. They forfeit the fare and make their own way.

Loose items

We are not liable for loss or injury caused by bags that were not properly stowed.

Back to top

CLAUSE 10Mess and damage

Bring sickness bags, particularly for school groups, children and anyone prone to motion sickness; a used bag that leaves the vehicle clean costs nothing. Contamination by bodily fluids must be decontaminated under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) before the vehicle can return to service.

Where clean-up means the vehicle misses a later job, we may claim a reasonable amount for the lost booking. Anything your passengers break, tear, crack or tag (seats, fittings, upholstery, windows, luggage bays) is repaired at your cost once we have sent a written assessment, and that is billed apart from cleaning. You do not pay for damage that is purely our staff’s fault.

Back to top

CLAUSE 11Luggage

Declare it

Vehicle size and price come from what you declare at booking. Standard is one large and one small bag per passenger. Declare oversized items too: sports gear, surfboards, bikes, eskies, instruments, audio or display equipment, prams, wheelchairs and mobility aids, camping gear, tools, boxes or machinery.

Needs approval

Motorised mobility scooters and dangerous goods, in writing before travel.

Weight limits

Legal mass and loading limits (Heavy Vehicle (Mass, Dimension and Loading) National Regulation) apply, and we never knowingly load past them.

Excess on the day

May cause delays or be refused, or need a larger vehicle, trailer, extra vehicle or luggage transfer at your cost, if available. Anything unsafe to carry is left behind, and the resulting delays, costs or penalties are not our responsibility.

Lifting

20 kg per item for our drivers; your group helps with heavier pieces. Drivers can refuse unsafe, overweight, dangerous or badly packed items.

Your risk

Belongings travel at the owner’s risk. We are liable only for loss directly caused by our negligence, as the Australian Consumer Law allows.

Lost property

Held at our depot for 60 days; the owner collects or pays for delivery. Unclaimed items are then disposed of.

Back to top

CLAUSE 12Accessibility

We carry passengers with disability with care and respect, guided by the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) and the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (Cth).

When booking, tell us the number of passengers who need help, whether each can shift into a regular seat, what boarding involves for them, and the measurements and weight of each aid; drivers lift a maximum of 20 kg per item. Assistance animals travel with their handlers; just mention them. If our website gives you trouble, email us and we will take the enquiry by hand, and we answer accessibility feedback inside 5 business days.

Back to top

CLAUSE 13Child restraints

NSW law treats a vehicle with 13 or more seats (counting the driver) as a bus. Rule 266 of the Road Rules 2014 (NSW), which makes drivers restrain passengers under 16, exempts buses; vehicles of 12 seats or fewer fall under point-to-point rules, where full child restraint law applies. On our buses, children need no booster or child seat by law, but passengers 16 and over must wear a fitted belt (Rule 265), and as every seat in our fleet has a belt, we require all passengers, children included, to wear one while moving.

Buses do not have ISOFIX or child seat anchor points. The driver will help secure a portable booster as far as the seat allows, and it can usually stay aboard for the return. Never share a belt with a child, never carry an infant in arms, seat children towards the rear, and fold and stow prams, which cannot be used as restraints on charter vehicles. The hirer and accompanying adults supervise children and their belts. Tell us at booking about infants or young children. This is a general guide to NSW law, not legal advice.

Back to top

CLAUSE 14Airport pickups

The driver meets arriving passengers at the meeting point in your confirmation; make sure everyone knows it and your group contact’s mobile is on. Every airport quote includes these allowances:

Delays inside the terminal that are not the flight’s fault, such as customs queues or lost bags, are charged at standard waiting rates once the allowance ends. Sydney Airport’s commercial parking is extra and passed on at cost at the rates on the day (reviewed each 1 July). For critical transfers, ask about a flat-fee delay protection package or priority dispatch.

Back to top

CLAUSE 15Delayed flights

Monitoring

We track arrivals for confirmed pickups. A documented flight delay inside the included allowances costs nothing extra.

Past the allowance

From here overtime runs, and it needs your agreement first, so ring us as soon as the delay looks long. Once you are an hour past the allowance, pick one: the driver keeps waiting at the agreed rate, you let the vehicle go and rebook, or we try for a later pickup. If waiting would wreck another job we may have to leave, and if the driver hits their compulsory rest the job ends.

Several flights

We aim to pull up roughly 20 minutes after the final flight in your group is due to touch down, so anyone who lands first waits inside. Name a single flight coordinator who follows every flight, keeps their phone on and has authority to decide.

Your part

Keep track of the flights, tell passengers how pickup works (we will not ring them individually) and have a fallback operator ready for long delays.

Costs and limits

Parking at cost, agreed overtime and any short-notice substitute vehicle. We are not liable for knock-on costs such as missed connections or hotels.

Back to top

CLAUSE 16Overnight and extended charters

Driver room

A private single room per driver with its own bathroom, heating or cooling, TV and secure access, at least 3-star, quiet and clean. Not negotiable.

Who books

We can book it at cost, or you book it and send the details for approval. If you supply it, it needs safe off-street parking for the vehicle and any trailer, with turning room and height clearance.

Meal allowance

$70.00 per driver per day, itemised in the quote, payable even if the group is catered, so drivers can eat to suit their diet, religion, culture and rest times.

Itinerary

Detailed plan a week before departure and final confirmation two business days before, allowing for all compulsory rest. We will amend anything that cannot legally be done.

Longer trips

May need extra drivers and attract standby, waiting or repositioning charges. Accommodation and meals are extra unless quoted.

Shortfalls

We may arrange compliant alternatives at your cost, pause the service, or stop it.

Back to top

CLAUSE 17Unsealed roads and site access

Bitumen or asphalt only. Our vehicles stay off gravel, dirt and sand, fire trails, farm tracks, building-site roads and every other unsealed surface, which are unsafe for heavy passenger vehicles, hard on the fleet and commonly excluded by insurance conditions. Mention any dirt-road stop when you book and we will settle on a sealed pickup spot with you, or you can arrange other transport for the final leg. If the driver meets an unsealed road on the day, they will stop at the closest safe sealed point. Bookings that would expose people or the vehicle to risk may be declined or rerouted. Give us full addresses, make sure a bus can legally stop and turn at each one, and flag height or weight limits, tight streets and low branches.

Back to top

CLAUSE 18Commentary and guides

Drivers do not give live commentary while driving; it splits their attention and is a risk safety law requires us to remove. They will give safety, timing and practical information. For narration, engage a professional tour guide, strongly recommended (and sometimes required) for sightseeing, regional and multi-stop tours, curriculum-linked school trips and corporate or VIP work, or arrange a pre-recorded audio system or a group leader of your own. Confirm the plan with us before the trip.

Back to top

CLAUSE 19Dining

We do not recommend, endorse or book restaurants or cafés, and we take no commissions from venues. Choosing and booking the venue, confirming numbers and menu, handling dietary needs, telling the venue your arrival time and confirming coach parking are all yours. Drivers will not deal with venues for you beyond a quick arrival call if asked. On request we can name general dining areas and coach parking options, on a non-reliance basis, and to the extent the law allows we accept no liability for dining arrangements.

Back to top

CLAUSE 20School excursions

Booking ID

Generated by our booking system and essential; without it a school booking is unconfirmed. The confirmation and tax invoice go to the school or its nominee by email. Prices follow the itinerary submitted and may be revised if timings, places, numbers or needs shift.

Refund fee

$100 including GST is deducted from any approved refund, and the balance goes back to the original payment method within 10 business days of written confirmation.

Changes

In writing at least 72 hours before travel, subject to availability, with a revised quote if the cost rises. Requests inside 72 hours are at our discretion.

Overtime

Starts the minute the booked time runs out and is billed afterwards in 20-minute blocks of $55.00 including GST ($165.00 per hour). A 15-minute buffer plus realistic loading time at each stop usually avoids it.

Payment

Due as the invoice states, in Australian dollars with GST included. We accept credit card, purchase order, EFT and government purchasing cards.

Conduct

Smoke-free, alcohol-free and drug-free; bottled water is the only food or drink allowed; belts on and seated, doing what the driver says. Brief students and staff before the day. If we refuse or stop a trip for safety, the school still pays the costs.

Supervision

Duty of care remains with the school, so an approved staff member travels with the students from the first to the last step. Give us firm numbers (extra vehicles on the day are not promised), flag any health, mobility, behavioural or other risk ahead of time, and check that every stop has safe, legal room for a bus.

Damage

The school, organiser and responsible adult are liable for passenger damage, invoiced to the school. Clause 22 otherwise governs liability.

Cancel by email; it applies from our acknowledgement, and fees are based on the full service cost.

Vomit in a sealed, air-conditioned vehicle is an infection risk, mainly from norovirus, which spreads through the air-conditioning and lingers on surfaces. Clean-up needs protective equipment, a biohazard spill kit, an air-conditioning flush and time off the road.

Cleaning invoices follow the trip, fall due in 14 days and are fixed; unusual remediation may cost more. The teacher in charge should pack a sickness bag for each student on any trip over half an hour. If fire, flood, a health emergency, government restrictions, strikes or a network-wide transport failure prevent the trip, neither side is liable to the other. NSW law governs, and making the booking means the school accepts this clause and all other terms here.

Back to top

CLAUSE 21Pre-trip checklist

Work through this once you are confirmed and again just before travel. If anything is a “no”, get in touch.

• Paperwork: confirmation and tax invoice correct; Booking ID, reference and invoice number saved; payment or purchase order in at least 7 days before; transfers referenced properly.
• Itinerary: addresses, times, route and passenger numbers rechecked (more people may need a bigger vehicle).
• Pickup: the bus can stop legally (not a clearway, no stopping zone, lane or driveway); we have your notes on gate codes, boom gates, height limits and permits; busy areas have a single meeting spot; destination parking is booked; you have checked Live Traffic NSW.
• Group contact: someone present all day on a mobile, who answers the driver quickly and calls them in only when everyone is ready to board.
• Special needs: oversized luggage, mobility aids and accessibility needs declared; boosters for under-7s; medical information with the group contact.
• Briefing: belts on, stay seated, water only, no alcohol, smoking or vaping, no bags in the aisle, cleaning fees for vomiting.
• On the day: group ready before departure; belts fastened; headcount each leg (teacher sign-off for schools); back on time; final sweep for belongings; vehicle left clean.

Back to top

CLAUSE 22Liability, complaints and law

Guarantees

Our services carry Australian Consumer Law guarantees that cannot be excluded: due care and skill, fitness for purpose and supply within a reasonable time.

Liability cap

As far as the law allows, no liability for indirect or consequential loss (lost profit, missed flights or events), and total liability for any service, including injury or death, capped at the charter fee for the affected date.

Passenger conduct

As far as the law allows, no liability to the extent injury or loss comes from a passenger not wearing an available belt, standing while moving, ignoring directions or breaking the law. Adults travelling with children are responsible for supervising them.

Outside our control

Nothing is owed for bushfires, floods, pandemics, strikes, new regulations, network-wide transport failures or acts of God, nor for what venues, car parks, hotels or ferry operators do; their own terms cover them.

Complaints

Email charterbushiresydney@gmail.com within 14 days of travel. We log every complaint and work through it as NSW passenger transport legislation and our own process require.

Governing law

New South Wales, with exclusive jurisdiction of its courts.

Whole agreement

These terms, your quote and your confirmation are the entire agreement. We may change these terms without notice; the version here applies once published.

Back to top

CLAUSE 23Privacy and copyright

Your information

Collected only to quote, book, run and bill your service; shared only with those delivering it or as the law requires; never sold; handled under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). Email us to access or correct it.

Our website

Protected by the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). One unaltered copy of a page for personal use, and fair dealing for study, research, criticism or review, are fine. Copying, rewording or republishing for commercial use, or scraping the site, needs our written permission.

Music and video

Under Australian copyright law, entertaining a coach-load counts as a public performance, private hire included. Before travel you need licences for any music (song and recording) and any film or TV. No licence on request means the driver turns it off, and infringement is not our liability.

Back to top