RTBU Western Australia

30/08/2026

HAPPY RETIREMENT ROBYN! 💙💛

Friday officially marked the end of an era for the RTBU WA Branch, with Robyn Hamilton officially finishing up after almost eight years with our Union.

Robyn joined the RTBU in late 2018 as our Office Manager, only a few months after I commenced as Branch Secretary. I had the privilege of hiring Robyn, and it's fair to say we both walked into an organisation that needed a fair bit of work!

What followed was almost eight years of working alongside each other to help turn things around.

To simply say Robyn “managed the office” would seriously understate her contribution.

She was the powerhouse behind the scenes. She brought order where it was needed, helped establish better systems and processes, kept the place running, looked after our members, supported our officials and delegates, kept countless balls in the air and, on more than a few occasions, kept the rest of us in line!

Robyn was also there for some of the biggest changes our Branch has been through.

She played an instrumental role as we rebuilt and strengthened the WA Branch and it finances, grew our membership and capabilities, and ultimately saw through the 2023 amalgamation that brought our Union together as one RTBU in Western Australia.

A lot has changed since those early days in 2018, and Robyn has been there through all of it.

Much of what she did happened quietly behind the scenes, and members may never know the full extent of her contribution. But the results of her work can be seen right across our Union.

We simply would not be where we are today without her.

Although Robyn has been enjoying some well-earned annual leave leading into retirement, Friday marked the official end of her employment and the beginning of what we hope will be a very long and very enjoyable retirement.

On behalf of our officials, delegates, members and everyone who has had the pleasure of working alongside her over the years, thank you, Robyn.

And personally, after starting only months apart and spending almost eight years working alongside each other, I can't thank you enough for everything you've done. For the hard work, loyalty, advice, laughs, friendship and for helping us turn what was, at times, a bit of a mess into the Union we have today.

You leave behind a stronger Union than the one you joined, and you played a huge part in making that happen.

That's a legacy worth being incredibly proud of.

Now it's time to enjoy retirement with Rod, the family and whatever adventures come next. You've certainly earned it.

Happy retirement, Robyn. You'll always be part of the RTBU family. 💙💛

Forever thankful,

Joshua Dekuyer
WA Branch Secretary

Union Strong. Union Proud. ✊

27/08/2026

𝗜𝗡𝗝𝗨𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞? 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗔 𝗦𝗔𝗬 𝗜𝗡 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗦 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬.

A Workplace Rehabilitation Provider (WRP) is a WorkCover WA approved provider that can assist an injured worker to achieve a safe and sustainable return to work.

Their role can include assessing barriers to returning to work, functional capacity and workplace assessments, identifying suitable duties or workplace modifications, case management, liaising with the parties involved in your rehabilitation, support and vocational counselling, and assistance where you are unable to return to your pre-injury role.

Importantly, your employer or workers compensation insurer may suggest a provider, but they don't get to simply impose their preferred provider on you.

Under the WA workers compensation scheme, you have the right to choose your WorkCover WA approved workplace rehabilitation provider, even where the referral has been initiated by your employer or treating medical practitioner.

For 2026–27, up to $19,911 is available for reasonable workplace rehabilitation expenses for an accepted workers compensation claim. This is a separate statutory entitlement from income compensation and medical and health expenses.

The RTBU has worked with and recommended Freshstart Injury Management to our members for more than a decade.

We encourage injured members to consider Freshstart because having a rehabilitation provider that recognises the injured worker as their client can make an enormous difference to the return-to-work process.

Insurers will often have rehabilitation providers they regularly use or recommend. Members should understand that the choice is yours. You should be comfortable that the provider involved is focused on your recovery and achieving a genuinely safe and sustainable return to work, not simply the quickest possible return.

If you've been injured at work and an insurer or employer is proposing a rehabilitation provider, you don't have to just accept their choice.

Talk to your RTBU Organiser or the RTBU Office about your options, including a referral to Freshstart.

𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗨𝗽. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗱. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻.

25/08/2026

I’ve seen the questions directed to me and the RTBU by WA Transport Magazine.

I’m not going to participate in a debate where one party sets the questions, embeds its own conclusions within them, closes the discussion to everyone else, and then determines whether the answers are satisfactory.

The RTBU’s position on train visibility and level crossing safety has been stated publicly and consistently. We support improving train conspicuity. We support reflective delineation of freight rolling stock. We support appropriate locomotive lighting improvements. We support stronger maintenance and accountability, safer level crossings, education, enforcement and infrastructure improvements.

What we have opposed are prescriptive measures that are not properly tested, do not adequately consider railway operations or human factors, or potentially transfer additional risk onto rail workers.

That is not opposition to rail safety. It is exactly what a rail union should be doing.

We have engaged constructively with Government, regulators, industry, safety representatives and rail workers. That engagement has contributed to significant improvements to the legislation originally proposed in Western Australia, including the removal of penalties against individual train drivers and a much stronger alignment with Australian standards.

I also reject any suggestion that the RTBU condones bullying or abuse of families who have lost loved ones. We don't. If WA Transport Magazine alleges that I or the RTBU have made a defamatory or bullying statement, they are welcome to identify it specifically rather than attribute the behaviour of unidentified people on social media to an entire union or industry.

Equally, lived experience does not place any proposal beyond scrutiny. Rail workers have lived experience too. Some of the people participating in this discussion have driven trains involved in collisions. Some have attended fatalities. Some carry those experiences for the rest of their lives. Their expertise, experience and safety deserve respect as well.

There are legitimate technical questions around train conspicuity, retroreflection, lighting, glare, human factors and level crossing design. Those matters should be determined by evidence, proper testing, national standards and consultation with the people affected, not by who can win an argument on Facebook.

I’m always prepared to engage constructively on improving rail safety.

But WA Transport Magazine does not get to set the rules of the discussion, appoint itself the referee, and demand that the RTBU answer questions framed around conclusions it has already reached.

We’ll continue advocating for evidence-based improvements that make level crossings safer for motorists and the rail workers who operate through them.

In unity,

Joshua Dekuyer
Branch Secretary

25/08/2026

John Holland Pty Ltd WA Rail Agreement 2025

Approved Today
Operates from 1 September 2026

21/08/2026

A recent Rail Express article highlights something our industry knows all too well: rail is increasingly becoming a high-risk industry for trauma.

For train drivers and other train crew, that can mean fatalities, level crossing collisions, near misses and other serious incidents.

For frontline workers like Transit Officers and Customer Service staff, it can mean regular exposure to aggression, threats, abuse and, far too often, physical assaults.

For all across our industry, trauma can come from responding to incidents, dealing with the aftermath, or repeated exposure to distressing events and material.

Importantly, trauma isn't always the result of one catastrophic event. Repeated exposure can accumulate over time.

That's why psychological health and safety needs to be treated like any other workplace safety issue.

Employers have a responsibility not just to respond after someone is harmed, but to identify psychosocial hazards, reduce workers' exposure to them wherever reasonably practicable, and make sure appropriate support is there when incidents do occur.

And as a union, we need to keep making sure the experiences of the people who actually operate, maintain and protect our railways are heard when decisions about rail safety are made.

Looking after rail workers is rail safety.

A worthwhile read in the comments sections below 👇

19/08/2026

Today, RTBU Australia PN Train Crew members have stepped up their industrial action in pursuit of a fair and reasonable Enterprise Agreement.

These Drivers work around the clock, 24/7, moving the freight that keeps Australia moving.

Throughout bargaining, members have been clear about what matters to them: better work/life balance, fair conditions and basic respect at work.

Unfortunately, Pacific National still isn’t listening.

So from today, RTBU members have commenced a 7-day overtime ban and an RTBU sticker campaign.

📣 No RTBU sticker on the loco, no driving the loco.

Our members are standing together across the country and sending PN a very clear message: it’s time to listen to your workforce and get serious about reaching a fair agreement.

RTBU – UNITY THROUGH STRENGTH ✊

17/08/2026

WA is showing the rest of Australia that sharing the freight task is possible.

In 2025 – 26, Western Australia achieved a national benchmark, with 26.4% of Fremantle Port’s container trade moved by rail, taking 164,000 heavy trucks from Perth roads. This is the highest share of any major city in Australia.

The success is the result of the Fremantle Container Rail Subsidy, a $50 per container incentive. Rail’s share at Fremantle has jumped from 14.5 per cent in 2015-16 to more than a quarter.

Recently, we launched "Sharing the Load", a report with the McKell Institute that models a national intermodal incentive scheme based on the Fremantle subsidy. Western Australia’s milestone is the clearest evidence that long-term policy commitment can deliver real results.

The model works. Now it’s time to share the load.

You can read the Sharing the Load report here: https://mckellinstitute.org.au/research/reports/sharing-the-load/

RTBU Western Australia The McKell Institute

16/08/2026

Something worth pointing out in the train lighting debate.

Reflective delineators don't produce their own light. They are designed to reflect a vehicle's headlights back towards the source, making the wagon visible to the approaching driver.

Yet some of the footage being used to argue that reflective strips on freight wagons "don't work" or are "insufficient" has been filmed from beside the vehicle rather than from the driver's position.

And in some examples, the vehicle's headlights have actually been turned off.

Think about that for a moment.

If you're trying to demonstrate that reflective material doesn't work, is ineffective, or insufficient, turning off the light source it is specifically designed to reflect isn't a fair test of its effectiveness.

Nor is standing well beside the headlights and showing viewers what the reflector looks like from there necessarily representative of what the driver sees through the windscreen.

That's selectively disingenuous.

Reflective delineators are already recognised in the Australian rolling stock lighting and visibility standard (and will be further improved in section 12 of the new development draft). They're a sensible, proven way of improving the visibility of freight wagons without introducing unnecessary additional lighting and the risks that can come with it.

Of course they need to be maintained. Brake dust, ore dust and grime accumulate on freight wagons. Operators should be accountable for ensuring delineators are properly inspected, cleaned and replaced when necessary.

If they're dirty, clean them.
If they're damaged, replace them.
If they're not being maintained, hold the operator accountable.

But don't turn the headlights off, stand somewhere the reflector wasn't intended to be viewed from, film the result and then tell the public that reflective delineators don't work.

That's not a reasonable demonstration of the technology.

We support improving train conspicuity. We support reflective delineators on freight wagons.

We just want the debate about rail safety to be based on evidence and a fair representation of the available safety controls.

16/08/2026