Become a bus driver

You must provide one document from this list: 

• full Australian birth certificate 
• current Australian passport 
• Australian visa (current at time of entry to Australia as a resident or tourist) 
• ImmiCard issued by Immigration and Border Protection 
• Certificate of Identity issued by Foreign Affairs and Trade to refugees and non-Australian citizens for entry to Australia 
• Document of Identity issued by Foreign Affairs and Trade for travel purposes 
• a certificate of evidence of resident status. 

You must provide two different documents from this list: 

• Certificate of Identity or Document of Identity issued by Foreign Affairs and Trade 
• convention travel document secondary (United Nations) issued by Foreign Affairs and Trade 
• foreign government-issued documents (for example, driver licence) 
• Medicare card 
• enrolment with the Australian Electoral Commission 
• security guard or crowd control photo licence 
• evidence of the right to an Australian government benefit (Centrelink or Veterans’ Affairs) 
• consular photo identity card issued by Foreign Affairs and Trade 
• photo identity card issued to an officer by a police force 
• photo identity card issued by the Australian Defence Force 
• photo identity card issued by the Australian government or a state or territory government 
• Aviation Security Identification Card 
• Maritime Security Identification card 
• Australian tertiary or secondary student photo identity document 
• certified academic transcript from an Australian university 
• trusted referee’s report. 

Note: Credit or debit cards cannot be used as proof of identity. Make sure the documents are clear and easy to read to avoid delays in processing your application. 

If your name is different to those on your documents, you must provide one of the following: 

• marriage certificate issued in Australia 
• divorce papers showing the name you reverted to 
• deed poll (issued before November 1986 in Victoria) 
• Change of Name Certificate (issued after November 1986 in Victoria). 

Accredited bodies, police agencies and ACIC collaborate to process police checks. 

Their goal is to complete 95 per cent of checks within 10 business days. Around 70 per cent of checks are instant, while the remaining 30 per cent are manually processed by police agencies due to ‘potential matches’. 

Checks might take longer due to old records, incomplete records, data transfer and workload. It is possible for them to take more than 10 days. 

For more information, visit the ACIC website. 

We only use your contact details to contact you about your driver accreditation and the industry. 

If your application is successful, the following will also display on our Public Register: 

• your name 

• driver certificate number (for example, DC12345) 
• if you can provide wheelchair accessible services. 

For more information, read our privacy policy. You can also read the Victoria Protective Data Security Standards. 

If you believe the information on your police check is incorrect, you must contact us and ask for a review within 28 days. Please note that court findings or sentences cannot be reviewed. 

You need to tell us what is incorrect and provide as much information as possible. We’ll then advise the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission ACIC who will inform the police agency to investigate your dispute. 

ACIC will advise us of the result of their investigation, and we will then notify you in writing. 

• For individual applicants: an original national police check certificate (from Victoria Police) for the individual applicant
• For all other applicants: an original national police check certificate (from Victoria Police) for each relevant person.

For each bus to be operated under the service, a copy of the current roadworthy certificate issued by a licensed vehicle tester authorised by VicRoads to test buses. Visit the VicRoads website for more information about roadworthy certificates.

Certified copies of proof of ID documents for the individual applicant or for all other applicants, the responsible person nominated in your application.

Any proof of identification documents not written in English must be accompanied by an English translation prepared by an accredited translator.

Your application must include one primary ID document from the list below:

• current Australian state/territory driver licence containing a photograph
• Australian passport (current or expired within the preceding two years)
• proof of age card containing a photograph of applicant
• foreign passport or similar travel document containing a photograph and signature.

Or

Two secondary ID documents (one from each list below):

One of these:

• Australian birth certificate
• Australian citizenship certificate
• national identity card issued by a foreign government containing a photograph of the person in whose name the card was issued.

And one of these:

• a document issued by a local government body or utilities provider within the preceding three months showing the person’s name and current residential address
• pension card issued by Centrelink
• health card issued by Centrelink
• a document issued by the Australian Taxation Office within the preceding 12 months that records a debt payable by the person to the Commonwealth (or by the Commonwealth to the person) which contains the person’s name and current residential address
• a document issued by the Commonwealth or a state or territory within the preceding 12 months that records the provision of financial benefits to the person, and which contains the person’s name and current residential address
• foreign driver licence that contains a photograph of the person in whose name it was issued and that person’s date of birth.

Persons that can certify documents include:

• justice of the peace
• notary public officer
• police officer
• chemist
• permanent employee of Australia Post with five or more years of continuous service
• finance company officer with five or more years of continuous service (with one or more finance companies)
• officer with, or authorised representative of, a holder of an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL), having five or more years’ continuous service with one or more licensees
• Australian consular officer or an Australian diplomatic officer
• judge of a court or a magistrate
• registrar or deputy registrar of a court
• chief executive officer of a Commonwealth court.