Joshua Humphris: Dad who saved kids from sinking bus in Northern Territory among bravest souls

With minutes to spare, Joshua Humphris acted purely on instinct as he rescued three kids and a driver from a sinking school bus at a swollen river crossing.

But when asked about who was really brave that day, he is quick to nominate the school students and his six-year-old daughter.

He is among 46 people recognised with Australian Bravery Decorations on Tuesday night for their actions in defiance of fear.

The 37-year-old was taking his daughter to school when he saw a partially submerged bus on a flooded causeway near the Northern Territory town of Batchelor in March 2023.

The vehicle was already more than a metre deep when he arrived at the isolated area, more than 100km south of Darwin.

“The timing wasn’t perfect ... but another five minutes and the bus would’ve been gone,” Mr Humphris said.

He recalls seeing the children on the bus hanging out the window while waving their arms and yelling for help.

“You can’t just sit back and watch that unfold and not do anything ... you don’t have a choice,” Mr Humphris said.

“I got out of the car, got my daughter out and put her up on the bank ... I told her ‘you need to stay here and don’t move’.”

The dad drove his ute into the water, yelling for the kids to climb out of the front window of the bus.

“Luckily for me, they all listened and climbed,” Mr Humphris said.

But the driver was in a state of shock, still holding the steering wheel and telling the saviour dad to “just take the kids and leave me”.

Mr Humphris eventually managed to drag the driver out of the bus and onto the ute with the students’ help.

Governor-General Sam Mostyn awarded him a commendation for brave conduct on Wednesday, among the dozens of Australian Bravery Decorations recognising the efforts of people involved in life-threatening situations.

“I am delighted that these exceptional people will forever know they have earned the gratitude of every Australian,” she said.

Other recipients include a man who saved two men from a burning home in Melbourne, and three boat crew who saved four men from rough seas near St Helens off the Tasmanian coast.

Mr Humphris said it felt good to be recognised, but the honour was also a little embarrassing.

“I hope that anyone in that situation would do the same thing,” he said, adding that it was the children — who remained calm and listened to him in a moment of crisis — who were the bravest during an extremely frightening situation.

— With AAP