The next phase of V/Line’s ‘We wear your words’ campaign has been launched today, reminding regional train passengers to treat its staff with respect when travelling across Victoria.
The latest version of the campaign has been rolled out across the V/Line network from today, reminding passengers of the impact that aggressive and anti-social behaviour can have on staff and sending the message that everyone is entitled to feel safe and secure in their workplace.
Since 2016, there have been close to 1100 reports of threatening or abusive behaviour against customer facing V/Line staff — including Conductors and Authorised Officers — by members of the public.
Almost 90 per cent of these incidents involved verbal abuse and while the impact on staff may not be visible, the effect can be negative and lasting.
In the past three years, there have been roughly two incidents of abuse for every one V/Line customer service staff member.
The campaign will be visible across all V/Line stations and on trains, while the campaign will also be promoted on V/Line’s social media channels.
The ‘We wear your words’ campaign was first rolled out across Victoria’s bus network, with Public Transport Victoria later adapting the campaign in December 2017 for use across the entire public transport network.
V/Line staff are provided training, tools and support to deal with confrontational situations in a calm, controlled manner, while all abusive behaviour towards staff is recorded and reported to Victoria Police when required.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Public Transport Melissa Horne
“Thankfully the vast majority of regional train passengers are highly respectful our staff, however there is always more work to be done to ensure our staff feel valued, appreciated, protected and safe while at work.”
“It is never okay to attack someone who is doing their job and we are going to continue pushing the message that abusing anyone on public transport is completely unacceptable.”
“This campaign is reminding passengers that their behaviour and words can have a lasting impact, so please respect our staff as you travel across the state.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020