CoR changes approved

The National Transport Commission has published a policy paper detailing imminent reforms to the current Chain of Responsibility legislation.

The changes were approved by the Transport and Infrastructure Council earlier this month, and the NTC says the legislation has been "restructured to improve consistency and allow more flexibility in how all parties along the supply chain who can influence on-road behaviour achieve the desired regulatory outcomes".

The NTC's CEO, Paul Retter (pictured), said the reforms would introduce a primary duty of care for all CoR parties, and would make Australia's roads safer for all.

"These reforms will help to make Australia's roads safer for everyone who uses them," he said.

"Those people in the supply chain who can make our roads safer should be encouraged to do so, and these reforms do exactly that.

"These parties include consignors, consignees, loaders, schedulers, transport operators, contractors, employers and their executives."

Mr Retter said the reforms removed many prescriptive obligations under the current Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) and implemented clearer, more flexible and performance-based obligations, without increasing the overall burden on industry.

The reforms better align the HVNL with Australia’s workplace health and safety laws. The NTC says this will make the law easier for industry to comply with and help both industry and enforcement agencies better understand their requirements, while operators will be able to find the best way to comply that meets their individual business needs.

"This reform will help enforcement agencies target and prevent unsafe behaviour by organisations in the supply chain, rather than waiting for a crash to happen," Mr Retter said.

While the changes will now see supply chain parties and executive officers viewed as innocent until proven guilty, they will also usher in a three-tier model of penalties similar to that adopted by current workplace health and safety laws and the Rail Safety National Law.

In both of those frameworks the worst breaches can attract fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars for individuals and millions of dollars for companies, as well as prison sentences. Currently CoR penalties run to a maximum of $20,000 for individuals and $100,000 for companies.

The NTC says the changes were achieved in consultation with government and industry stakeholders, and that they have received broad support from the transport industry.

The amendments will now be tabled by the NTC for transport ministers to review in May 2016.

Click here to view the NTC's policy document on the Chain of Responsibility reforms.