I am Ian MacDonald and my LinkedIn profile records that I have been involved in the bus and coach industry since the early nineties, almost 35 years.

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Firstly, as a solicitor for Transit Australia, representing an English bus operator expand his transport business into Queensland. Then, as a contract manager and industrial relations officer with the Bus and Coach Association of NSW, now known as BusNSW.

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Since 2010, I had been involved with the peak national transport body, the Bus Industry Confederation (BIC), where my role was to establish and register the Australian Passenger Transport Industrial Association (APTIA) as a registered industrial organisation under the, then, newly legislated, Fair Work Act 2009 and Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009.

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I participated in the drafting and creation of the Passenger Vehicle Transportation Award 2010, which underpins all wages and employment conditions within the bus and coach industry. The PVTA has been varied many times, either because of various reviews of the modern awards or single applications by the trade unions to vary the terms and conditions.

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I have represented the industry and, more importantly, bus and coach operators in the Fair Work Commission and various other tribunals.

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I have also represented the industry at the Attorney General’s round table inquiry, in 2020, into part time and casual employment and at a technical meeting of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), online, from Geneva in 2021 on the future of decent and sustainable work in urban transport service.

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As a member of the Fair Work Commission’s Enterprise Agreement Bargaining Advisory Group (EABAG) I have had direct input into the current processes for approvals of enterprise agreements including the development of the Statement of Principles which dictates the processes for approval. I have a clear understanding of the role that multiple industry bargaining may apply to the bus and coach industry.

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I deliver the industrial relations lecture in the Certificate of Transport Management (CTM) course at the Sydney University’s, Institute of Transport and Logistic Studies (ITLS) under the auspices of Professor David Hensher and Professor John Nelson.

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I have also been a member of the Australian Human Resources Institute (MAHRI) since 2011. With many contacts within the industry and with other experienced transport advisors ready to assist in supporting BusIR my intention is to provide a ‘one-stop- shop’ for those bus and coach operators across Australia who seek representation or just assistance with the operational side of the business to ensure that all laws and regulations are complied with.

 

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