If you’re travelling with children in Melbourne, it’s worth knowing that some taxi services have child car seats available. However, the rules around using these in Australia differ between states. Some, like NSW, don’t require them at all. Others, including Victoria, require children under one to travel in a taxi seat while kids over one must sit on the back seat with a properly fastened lap-sash adult seatbelt.
The other main rule is that all chauffeur driven vehicles (including VHA Town cars, limousines, private hire cars and rideshare services such as Uber) must carry baby seats for children up to the age of seven years. They also need to install a booster seat for older children up to the age of 13 years.
To help parents, Uber has introduced a pilot program called Uber Child Seats that connects passengers who need a baby or toddler seat with driver-partners who have them in their vehicles. Driver-partners taking part in the pilot are educated to correctly fit and use child restraints through training workshops and competency knowledge checks conducted by Baby Bunting, Australia’s leading baby goods retailer and car seat specialist.
Despite these rules, it’s still worth checking before booking with your preferred taxi service whether they have child seats in their fleet. And, if you want to make sure they do, the good news is that most taxis in Australia, except NSW, have at least one anchor point, so it’s possible to bring your own child car seat with you. taxi with baby seat melbourne