Terms & conditions

Sydney Buses Australia Pty Ltd

1. About these terms

These terms apply to charter and coach hire supplied by Sydney Buses Australia Pty Ltd, trading as Sydney Buses ("we", "us" or "our"). They apply from the moment you accept a written quote or confirm a booking with us, whichever happens first.

Your written quote is part of this agreement. Where the quote sets out something specific to your booking — the vehicle, the itinerary, the hours, the deposit or the cancellation terms — the quote prevails over the general wording on this page.

No employee, driver or agent can vary these terms verbally. Any variation has to be confirmed in writing by the office. If we choose not to enforce a term on one occasion, that does not waive it for any other booking.

2. What the words mean

• "Booking" — a charter we have accepted in writing, identified by the reference on your quote or confirmation.
• "Hirer" — the person or organisation named on the quote. The hirer is responsible for payment and for the conduct of the group, whether or not they travel.
• "Booked window" — the period the vehicle and driver are committed to you, measured from the scheduled departure to the scheduled finish stated in the quote.
• "Vehicle" — the class of vehicle named in your quote, not a specific registration.
• "Charter" — private hire of the whole vehicle with a driver. We do not hire vehicles out unstaffed.

3. Quotations

Quotes are given in writing against the itinerary you supply, and are subject to vehicle and driver availability at the time you accept them. A quote is not a reservation: the date is only held once the booking is confirmed and any deposit is paid.

Quotes are valid for the period stated on them. If a quote carries no validity period, treat it as valid for 30 days, after which we may need to reissue it.

Indicative hourly rates published on this website are a budgeting aid, not an offer. The price you pay is the price confirmed in your written quote.

If the information you give us is materially different from the trip that actually runs — a different distance, a different number of passengers, extra stops, a different start or finish time — we may need to requote before travel, and will do so in writing.

4. Prices, GST and inclusions

All rates include GST, driver and fuel. Quoted amounts are in Australian dollars.

Every quote includes:

• A professional driver for the booked window
• Fuel
• Vehicle insurance
• GST

The following are not included in the hourly rate. Each one that applies to your trip is estimated and itemised in the written quote before you pay, and invoiced at cost:

• Road tolls
• Parking, venue access and coach-marshalling fees
• National park and attraction entry fees
• Driver accommodation and meals on multi-day charters
• Public-holiday, after-hours and special-event loading
• Waiting time and overtime beyond the booked window

Charges imposed by third parties or by government — new tollways, changed venue access fees, changes to GST or other statutory charges — that take effect after your quote is issued are payable by you at cost.

5. Minimum hire

3-hour minimum hire applies to minibuses and people movers. 4-hour minimum hire applies to midi-coaches and full-size coaches. The minimum is charged whether or not the full period is used, because the vehicle and driver are unavailable to anyone else for that block.

Airport, cruise terminal and point-to-point transfers quoted as a fixed fare are not subject to a minimum hire period, because they are priced on the route rather than the clock.

6. Deposits, payment and invoicing

The deposit and the payment dates that apply to your booking are set out in your written quote. Nothing is payable until you have that quote in front of you and have accepted it.

A booking is not confirmed, and the date is not held, until the deposit is received or an account arrangement is in place. Account clients are invoiced after travel on the terms agreed with the office, against a purchase order or cost centre where one is supplied.

Card surcharges, where they apply, are disclosed before payment is taken. We do not add a surcharge you have not been told about.

Amounts that remain unpaid after their due date may attract reasonable recovery costs. We would always rather talk to you about an overdue invoice than escalate it.

7. Changes to a confirmed booking

Tell us about a change as early as you can and we will accommodate it where we can. Changes are subject to availability and are confirmed in writing, with a reissued quote where the price is affected.

• Passenger numbers moving up or down within the same vehicle: no change to the price, because the rate is for the whole vehicle.
• A change of vehicle size: requoted, subject to what is available for your date.
• Added stops, a later finish or an extended itinerary: quoted as additional time before it is agreed.
• A change of date: treated as a new booking where the original date cannot be resold, in which case the cancellation terms below apply to the original.

8. Cancellation by you

The cancellation terms that apply to your booking are set out in your written quote, so you know before you accept it what happens if the trip does not go ahead.

Cancellations must be made in writing to the office. The date and time we receive your written notice is the date your cancellation takes effect, and the date any cancellation terms are worked out from.

Where third parties have already been engaged for your booking — accommodation for a driver on a multi-day charter, venue access fees, ferry or attraction bookings — any cancellation charges those third parties levy are also payable by you.

Nothing in this clause limits your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.

9. Cancellation or variation by us

We will only cancel a confirmed booking where it becomes unsafe or genuinely impossible to run it — for example a declared emergency, a road closure with no viable alternative, extreme weather, or a direction from an authority. Where that happens we will tell you as soon as we know, offer an alternative where one exists, and refund amounts paid for the part of the service we cannot supply.

We may substitute a vehicle of equivalent or greater capacity and standard, or engage a suitably accredited partner operator, where a mechanical failure or an operational need requires it. We will tell you if that happens rather than let you find out at the kerb.

10. Vehicles, capacity and seating

Your quote names a class of vehicle, not a registration. The vehicle allocated on the day will match or exceed the class quoted.

Seat counts stated on this website and in quotes are the vehicle's rated capacity and exclude the driver. Passenger numbers must not exceed that capacity. A driver may refuse to depart with more passengers on board than the vehicle is rated for; that is a legal requirement, not a preference.

Luggage capacity varies by vehicle. Where the volume of luggage or equipment presented exceeds what was described at quoting time, the driver may be unable to carry all of it safely. Tell us what is travelling as well as who, and this does not arise.

11. Timing, delays and waiting

Drivers aim to arrive about ten to fifteen minutes before the booked departure so the group can load without rushing. That allowance sits inside the booked window rather than on top of it.

We will use reasonable care and skill to run to your schedule, but arrival and departure times cannot be guaranteed. Traffic, weather, roadworks, events and third-party delays are outside our control. When you plan a trip with a hard deadline — a flight, a cruise departure, a ceremony — allow contingency time and tell us what the deadline is so we can build the run sheet around it.

Waiting time beyond the booked window is confirmed in advance

Where a booking runs past its scheduled finish, the additional time is charged at the applicable hourly rate. The driver will tell you before that additional time starts, not after it has been used, and any extension is subject to the driver's available hours under fatigue-management law.

12. Tolls, parking and access fees

Tolls are estimated and confirmed in your written quote

Venue parking and access fees are confirmed in advance, not included

Toll and parking charges are set by road and venue operators and can change without notice. Where they change between your quote and your travel date, the difference is charged at cost with the evidence supplied.

13. Luggage and personal property

Passengers are responsible for their own luggage and personal items at all times, including while those items are in a luggage bay. Except where loss or damage is caused by our negligence, we are not liable for property carried on or left in a vehicle.

We may decline to carry an item that is unsafe, is a dangerous good, is likely to be damaged in transit, or is likely to damage the vehicle or other passengers' property.

Items left behind are held as lost property for a reasonable period and can be collected from our office by arrangement. Where we agree to send an item on, the freight cost is payable by the owner.

14. Conduct on board

Food and drink

Food and non-alcoholic drinks are permitted on our vehicles. We ask that rubbish leaves with the group.

Alcohol

Alcohol is permitted on private function bookings by prior written arrangement only, and never on school or youth charters. Where alcohol is approved, the hirer is responsible for the conduct of the group and for any resulting damage or cleaning.

Smoking and vaping

Smoking and vaping are prohibited by law on all passenger vehicles, including any onboard toilet.

Behaviour

Passengers must follow the driver's reasonable directions on safety matters, including seat belts where fitted. A driver may refuse to carry, or may set down, a passenger who is behaving in a way that puts themselves, other passengers, the driver or the vehicle at risk, who is unlawfully in possession of a prohibited substance, or who refuses a reasonable safety direction.

15. Damage and cleaning

The hirer is responsible for damage to a vehicle caused by their group, and for cleaning costs beyond normal post-trip cleaning. Any such charge is invoiced at cost with photographs or a repairer's invoice supplied.

The hirer is not responsible for damage caused by us, by our employees, or by ordinary wear and tear.

A security bond may be required for late-night function bookings. Where one is taken it is refunded after the vehicle is inspected.

16. Children, schools and youth groups

Drivers assigned to school and youth bookings hold a current NSW Working With Children Check as well as their Driver Authority. Check numbers can be supplied to your school or organisation in advance for verification against the register.

Supervision of children remains the responsibility of the hiring school or organisation at all times, including at pick-up and set-down. Drivers are not supervisors and cannot take responsibility for headcounts.

Where seat belts are a requirement of your booking, say so at quoting time and the vehicle assigned will be one that is fitted with them.

17. Accessibility

Wheelchair-equipped vehicles with hoists are available. Tell us the number of wheelchair positions and any other access requirement when you enquire, so the right vehicle is assigned and loading time is allowed in the schedule.

There is no separate access charge. Where an access requirement is disclosed after a booking is confirmed and it changes the vehicle needed, the booking may need to be requoted.

Assistance animals travel with their handler at no charge.

18. Safety, accreditation and driver hours

We operate as an accredited passenger transport operator (NSW Transport accredited). Certificates can be supplied on request for tender and procurement purposes.

A certificate of currency for our insurance cover can be issued to your organisation before travel.

Driver working hours and rest breaks are governed by heavy vehicle fatigue-management law. We build the required breaks into the run sheet at quoting time. A driver cannot exceed their available hours, and a request on the day that would do so will be declined.

19. Consumer guarantees and liability

Our services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law, including guarantees that services will be supplied with due care and skill, will be fit for the purpose you told us about, and will be supplied within a reasonable time. Nothing on this page limits those guarantees.

Where we fail to meet a consumer guarantee and the failure is not major, our liability is limited, to the extent the law allows, to resupplying the service or paying the cost of having it resupplied.

To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss — for example a missed flight, a missed connection or a lost deposit with a third party — arising from a delay outside our reasonable control. This is why we ask you to allow contingency time on trips with a hard deadline and to consider travel insurance.

Where part of your booking is supplied by a third party such as a venue, an attraction or an accommodation provider, that provider's own terms apply to their part of the service.

20. Privacy

We collect only the personal information we need to quote for and deliver your booking, and we handle it in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles. We do not sell your details.

Our Privacy Policy sets out what we collect, why, who it may be disclosed to, and how to access or correct it.

21. Feedback and complaints

If something on a trip did not go the way it should have, contact the office with the travel date and the booking reference. We will look into it and respond. We would rather hear about it directly than have you leave it unresolved.

22. Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of New South Wales, and the courts of New South Wales have jurisdiction over any dispute arising from them.

If any part of these terms is found to be unenforceable, that part is severed and the rest continues to apply.

We may update these terms from time to time. The version that applies to your booking is the version published when your booking was confirmed, together with your written quote.

23. How to contact us

Questions about these terms, or about a booking you already have, go to the office:

• Sydney Buses Australia Pty Ltd
• 74 Edinburgh Rd, Marrickville NSW 2204
• Phone: 02 9469 6600
• Email: info@sydneybuses.com.au
• Office hours: Mon–Fri 7am–6pm, Sat 8am–2pm

This page is a plain-language statement of our charter hire terms. It is not legal advice, and it does not exclude, restrict or modify any consumer guarantee that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law.

Privacy policy Rates and inclusions Contact us