SCHOOL BUSES

In reply to the Hon. C.V. SCHAEFER (10 September 2008).

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy): The Minister for Educationhas provided the following information:

There was no pre-election commitment of the type described in the question, however on 15 August 2006, the Rann Government pledged that all new school buses would be fitted with lap-sash seatbelts.

The Department of Education and Children's Services (DECS) has advised that at the start of 2009, there will be a total of 71 DECS owned school buses fitted with seat belts. This equates to 31 per cent of the DECS operated fleet being fitted with seatbelts.

A donation from the Freemasons also assisted DECS to retrofit four buses.

DECS is committed to providing seatbelts on all new buses purchased by the department. All new contract bus services will have seatbelts fitted at the start of each new contract.

With the exception of Western Australia and some routes in Queensland, South Australia is leading the nation by installing seatbelts in its school buses.