Victoria is running two ambitious policy experiments simultaneously — and both are generating friction.
The state’s month-long free public transport trial has produced an immediate headache: V/Line, the regional rail operator, has suspended ticket bookings entirely, leaving passengers facing the prospect of standing for hours on packed trains. “You might be sitting on the floor,” one commuter was warned. The trial was designed to ease cost-of-living burdens and test whether free transit could shift travel behaviour, but the surge in demand is straining infrastructure built for a paying — and therefore somewhat self-rationing — ridership.
On another front, Victoria is extending its nation-leading classroom phone ban to all private schools, and broadening it to include internet-enabled smartwatches and wireless headphones. The move reflects a growing consensus among educators and parents that digital distraction in schools requires more than half-measures.
