The Aporia · We’ve lost our manners on public transport. Can we get them back?

We’ve lost our manners on public transport. Can we get them back?

Read the original at The Sydney Morning Herald ↗

Cite

APA MLA Chicago

Alcorn, G. (2026, September 28). We’ve lost our manners on public transport. Can we get them back? The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/we-ve-lost-our-manners-on-public-transport-can-we-get-them-back-20260929-p60waw.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

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 by AI on 2026-09-28, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Good Weekend's how-to column addresses the issue of rude behavior on public transport in Australia. The Australian School of Etiquette founder Zarife Hardy describes it as "hugely rude" when people use their phone speakers loudly, forcing fellow passengers to listen to both sides of their conversations or videos. Hardy believes that modern life and reliance on personal devices have led to a decline in manners, with individuals treating public spaces like private lounges. She emphasizes the importance of etiquette as a set of societal standards aimed at improving relationships and making daily interactions more pleasant for everyone involved. Hardy calls for a shift from self-centered behavior back to considering others' comfort and well-being in shared environments.

Written for “Manners On Public Transport” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

1 of 26 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

61/100

The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Other

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-09-28 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Sydney Morning Herald · 5569 article(s) · 15 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 15 correction(s)

2026-10-30

Notorious paedophile charged with additional 200 offences against 23 children

2026-10-29

‘Just try me’: The text messages that sparked News24’s on-air clash

2026-10-28

Opposition’s Long Bay idea not the negative gear portrayed by Labor

2026-10-24

Will I still have to pay the 30% tax if only sell a few shares?

2026-10-18

How a beanie exposed a man who burnt his ex’s home and killed her cats

2026-10-12

Prisons boss won’t say who asked for human rights law carve-out

2026-10-09

Sam Wood held in high-security prison after failed bid for freedom

2026-10-09

Sam Wood moved to correctional centre following failed bail application

2026-10-09

P-plater accused of horror Newcastle car crash bailed to family home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs

2026-10-08

Snowtown murderer seen leaving correctional facility

2026-10-08

Oliver Curtis’ transformation from jailbird to corporate kingpin has gone awry

2026-10-03

Tennessee’s prisons chief to resign after failed execution of Christa Pike

2026-09-28

Inside the prison left abandoned for years – now set to reopen as DV offenders weigh on system

2026-09-19

What will happen to your most cherished possessions when you die? You don’t want to know

2026-09-18

What will happen to your most cherished possessions when you die? You don’t want to know

Who wrote this

Gay Alcorn

2 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 Would you mind turning it down?’

2026-09-28 · assertive framing · We’ve lost our manners on public transport. Can we get them back?

🔮 And then, as luck would have it, I was offered the role of Winnie in the MTC’s [Melbourne Theatre Company] production of Happy Days, which I still can’t quite believe.

2026-09-18 · assertive framing · ‘I never want to be that sick again’: Judith Lucy on what happened at a healing retreat in Peru

Also by Gay Alcorn

‘I never want to be that sick again’: Judith Lucy on what happened at a healing retreat in Peru

2026-09-18 · The Sydney Morning Herald

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

Good Weekend Good Weekend’s NSW Victoria the Australian School of Etiquette

Subjects

Hardy PERSON · 3× Good Weekend ORG · 2× Evonne Goolagong Cawley PERSON · 1× Good Weekend’s ORG · 1× NSW GPE · 1× Suzie Miller PERSON · 1× Victoria GPE · 1× Zarife Hardy PERSON · 1× the Australian School of Etiquette ORG · 1× the Liberal Democrats NORP · 1×

Narrative

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?

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-28

🔮 Would you mind turning it down?’

2026-09-28 · The Sydney Morning Herald

We’ve lost our manners on public transport. Can we get them back? · assertive framing

Claims (26 extracted, 1 hedged)

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

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