Good Weekend's advice column discusses how to politely address rude behavior on public transport, such as loud phone conversations and videos. Zarife Hardy, founder of the Australian School of Etiquette, emphasizes declining manners in public spaces due to faster-paced lives and increased use of personal devices. She suggests respectfully asking offenders to lower their volume or move seats if necessary, rather than being confrontational. While Victoria has fines for non-compliance with headphone usage rules on transport, there are no such penalties in NSW, reflecting a debate over whether stricter laws are needed to maintain public comfort.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-28,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Each week, Good Weekend’s how-to column shares expert advice on how to navigate some of modern life’s big – and small – challenges.
asserted
column → share → challenges
What are people thinking?
asserted
people → think → What
What on earth induces them to turn on their phone’s speaker so that their fellow passengers on a train, bus or tram have the dubious pleasure of hearing not just one side of their incredibly tedious conversation, but both sides?
asserted
passengers → induce → conversation
It’s “hugely rude”, says Zarife Hardy, founder of the Australian School of Etiquette, a company that works – mainly with businesses – to foster what were once known as “good manners”.
asserted
what → ’ → manners
“People are now treating public spaces like their own lounge rooms,” she says.
asserted
she → treat → rooms
Hardy defines etiquette, a quaint word, as “a set of standards and rules that we should follow in society, in life, in business, to make our days nicer and our relationships better”.
asserted
relationships → define → business
A code of behaviour, perhaps, that allows us to happily share public spaces.
asserted
us → allow → spaces
Manners are declining as we live faster lives hooked up to personal devices, she believes: “We’ve turned into a society of, ‘It’s all about me.’
asserted
It → decline → me
We’ve got to come back to ‘It’s about everybody.’
asserted
It → get → everybody
”
You can fume about rudeness, or you can do something about it, Hardy says, but be careful: etiquette shouldn’t be insisted upon at the expense of your personal safety.
asserted
etiquette → fume → safety
“If the offender’s intoxicated or aggressive, just move seats.
asserted
offender → ’ → seats
If you’re going to say something, be polite.
asserted
you → go → something
Don’t say, ‘Hey, that’s too loud.
asserted
that → say → ?
Instead, try, ‘Look, I’m really sorry, but that’s a little bit loud.
asserted
that → try → ?
Would you mind turning it down?’
asserted
you → mind → it
” If you’re actually travelling in a quiet carriage, it’s fine to politely point that out.
asserted
it → travel → that
Concentrate on the behaviour you’d like to change, not on attacking the person.
asserted
you → concentrate → person
In Victoria, travellers on public transport are free to make or receive phone calls, as long as they’re using headphones; non-compliance could mean a $261 fine.
uncertain
compliance → make → fine
No similar restrictions exist in NSW,
although there are regulations that warn against “disrupting the comfort of others”.
asserted
that → exist → others
Meanwhile, a push for harsher penalties is becoming global: last year, in the UK, the Liberal Democrats proposed a fine of up to £1000 (about $1880) for “headphone dodgers”.
asserted
Democrats → become → dodgers
Hardy says it would be a sad indictment if we needed the heavy hand of the law to force us to consider the comfort of our fellow passengers.
asserted
we → say → passengers
“It’s a sad thing in society now that we see signs in shopping centres that read, ‘Please be nice to the staff.’
asserted
that → ’ → staff
Like, how much has changed [in our personal interactions with others in public life] that we need those now?”
asserted
we → change → those
- Why Evonne Goolagong Cawley is choosing joy even in the face of illness
- ‘Do we want a world that reflects a kind of tech-bro zone?
asserted
that → choose → zone
I don’t think so’: Suzie Miller on raising sons
-
asserted
I → think → sons
She’s loved by millions of Australians but in her darkest moment, Magda Szubanski chose to be on her own
Get the best of Good Weekend delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning.
asserted
best → love → inbox
The Aporia
