There are 700ish Traffic Wardens (crossing supervisors) in Perth.. Some have been let go for inappropriate activities. TWs here are regulated and triained by the Children’s Crossing Unit, an arm of the West Oz police.. Need to have a working with children check paid for by WAPOL.. After three months, they/you get issued a WAPOL ID, as proof of the authority to control a crossing.. You even get paid a mileage allowance..
Not sure of the number of crossing supervisors in Melbourne, guessing though there'd be more than 2000, even more accoss the state.
The crossing supervisor scheme (as it was originally known) started in Victoria in 1975 (a year before I started at the Road Safety & Traffic Authority - RoSTA). It was a Government knee reaction to a couple of fatal crashes involving school children in 1974; one on Bay Street in Brighton when a driver didn't stop on a red signal, two children were hit and died; the other on Bell Street in Preston when the driver of a dump truck pushed a stopped vehicle into two children crossing the road, both died.
Something had to be done, and so the state government allocated $500,000 per year to provide local governments across the state a 2/3rd subsidy to train and employ the supervisors. Expansion of the scheme, mainly population increases, has seen the council I worked for receive around $2M a year alone.
The original manager (appointed in 1975) is still a good mate, I see hime once or twice a year at RoSTA/RTA/VicRoads' reunions.
