User:Htreloar/sandbox/Public Transport Ombudsman Victoria

The Public Transport Ombudsman Limited (PTO) is an independent dispute resolution body that provides a free, fair, informal and accessible service for the resolution of complaints about Victorian public transport operators. The PTO operates as a not for profit company limited by guarantee and is independent from government.

Structure
The Constitution of the PTO establishes a Board, composed of three directors appointed by members of the PTO Scheme, and three directors to represent users of pubic transport services appointed by the Victorian Minister for Transport Infrastructure/Public Transport. *

The Board is responsible for the appointment of an Ombudsman, to be vested with authority under the PTO Charter to receive, investigate and facilitate the resolution of complaints.

Funding for the PTO is raised by an annual levy imposed upon its eleven Scheme members.

Scheme members are private enterprises and administrative agencies responsible for the management and delivery of Victoria's public transport services. Membership under the PTO Scheme binds a transport operator to the PTO's dispute resolution functions.

Guiding Principles
The PTO complies with the Australian Government's six Benchmarks for Industry-based Customer Dispute Resolution: accessibility, independence, fairness, accountability, efficiency and effectiveness.

The PTO receives, investigates and resolves complaints from consumers who use or are affected by the Victorian public passenger transport services provided by its Scheme members. The PTO performs its dispute resolution functions independently, as it is neither a consumer advocate, nor a representative of the Victorian public transport industry.

Jurisdiction
The PTO Charter outlines the Ombudsman's powers to receive, investigate and facilitate the resolution of complaints.

In order for the PTO to consider a complaint, an operator must first be given a reasonable opportunity to respond to the matter. If the complaint is not dealt with by the operator within a reasonable time period, or the complaint is not resolved to a consumer's satisfaction, then a complaint can be made to the PTO.

The PTO deals with complaints concerning service delivery, ticketing, infrastructure, operator staff conduct (including authorised officers), and customer service.

The PTO is not able to hear appeals against fines incurred while travelling on Victorian public transport. Matters related to the issuing of transport fines (such as staff conduct), however, do fall under the PTO's jurisdiction and may be brought as a complaint.

The PTO is bound by a jurisdictional limit of $5,000 (or $10,000 with the agreement of an operator), and is unable to hear a complaint where any one determination or direction, or a combination of determinations and/or directions, to be made against an operator exceeds this value.

Complaint Handling
When considering a complaint, the PTO has regard to what is fair and reasonable in the circumstances, as well as relevant law, industry codes and practice.

A PTO investigation involves an assessment and analysis of the information provided by both the consumer (the party making the complaint) and the operator (the public transport provider).

The resolution of disputes before the PTO is achieved through conciliation, that is, non-adjudicative means. Shuttle negotiation processes are used to steer a PTO investigation towards its outcomes, and parties are expected to be actively involved in the negotiation and resolution of complaints.

Outcomes of complaints to the PTO commonly include:


 * A detailed explanation from the operator;
 * An apology;
 * Refunds, compensation or goodwill payments;
 * Changes to operator policies and procedures; and/or
 * Operator staff training or counselling.

Under rare circumstances, if an agreement is not reached between parties, the Ombudsman is able to make a decision that is binding on the operator. Such a determination will be made within jurisdictional limits: up to the value of $5,000, or $10,000 with the agreement of the operator.

Systemic Issues
The PTO has the power to investigate, refer and report to Scheme Members, regulators or the Minister for Public Transport on any issue it identifies as systemic through the consideration of a single or series of individual complaints.

The Westjustice Couch Surfing Myki Pilot Program
In 2017, the PTO took part in consultation between community legal organisation WEstjustice and Victorian public transport operators, concerning the barriers to accessing public transport faced by vulnerable young people.

The consultation led to the development of a 12 month transport-education pilot program, aimed at creating a new pathway of compliance for young couch surfers and victims of family violence who are without access to income and rely on public transport to get to and from school. The pilot was carried out over 2018 and involved the distribution of myki cards to young persons as part of integrated homelessness support provided by wellbeing staff in participating schools.

Following positive feedback for the initial Pilot, the Victorian State Government announced a grant of $175,000 for an expanded program in 2019.