The Melbourne-based mother has been working as a bus driver and driving instructor for the last 14 years. However, she says it initially wasn't easy for her to obtain a job in this male-dominated occupation.
After migrating to Australia in 2006 with her husband and daughter, Mrs Singh struggled to find meaningful employment for a couple of years before she decided to start her own driving school business.
Highlights:
- Melbourne-based mother Poonam Singh turned her driving skills into a full-time career
- 'Driving can offer flexibility to manage work and life balance': Mrs Singh
- Women's representation in the transport sector has risen from 16 percent in 2017 to 28 percent in 2021
"I applied for many roles here but when nothing came my way, I decided to become a driving instructor and set up my own driving school," said Mrs Singh, who held a cushy Air India job back home.
"I completed all the required courses offered by VicRoads and I thought this would be the end of my hardships, but I was wrong," she said.
Poonam Singh says she loves being a bus driver. Source: Supplied by Poonam Singh
“Female representation in this field was very low a decade ago, so people did not trust my skills as a driving instructor,” she said.
Unable to advertise her business due to a limited budget, Mrs Singh eventually resorted to parking her car in front of a VicRoads centre for days and displaying homemade signage just to get noticed.
Her persistence paid off and she finally attracted a few international students who helped spread the word. As clients started pouring in, her husband took over the business while Mrs Singh embarked on her next job as a bus driver.
"When I started this job way back in 2009, there were very few female bus drivers. But now I see many faces," she said.
Expressing her passion and love for her job as a bus driver, Mrs Singh now wants to encourage other women to consider a similar employment path.
"It's a paying job and offers the flexibility to manage one's life and work balance," Mrs Singh pointed out.
Even though there are many happy memories for her, she said every job came with some risks. "I was very lucky to meet a lot of good passengers barring few incidents where some ran away without paying for tickets and few commented on me driving a bus,'' she recalled.
The Victorian transport department's 'Women In Transport Strategy 2021-24' aims to encourage a 30 per cent increase in women joining the sector by 2024.
A department spokesperson told SBS Hindi that women's representation in the state transport sector had risen from 16 per cent in March 2017 to 28 per cent in June 2021.
“While there has been progress towards increasing the number of women working in the transport sector, more needs to be done and that includes encouraging women from diverse ethnic backgrounds into jobs such as driving buses,” the spokesperson said.
For now, Mrs Singh is trying to make a difference and help new migrant women through her support group called 'Women of Brimbank' which has over 50 members.
"I have seen many women struggling when they arrive here. I want to give them a sense of connection, love, and care," Mrs Singh said.
“We all have more or less similar stories to share, and it's helpful," Mrs Singh said.
