TA23: Progress on the national truck laws

In February 2022, Ken Kanofski was appointed to tidy up the various threads of the review into the National Heavy Vehicle Law and to recommend what should be in the new updated laws.

The relatively good news is that in September 2022 the Infrastructure and Transport Ministers’ Meeting (ITMM) approved the suggested governance arrangements and directed the NTC to complete a Decision Regulatory Impact Statement (D-RIS) on the legislative reforms.

“What was presented to the ministers was already a set of compromises,” Ken pointed out. It was important that the proposals weren’t seen as a group of individual sections that could be nitpicked.

“The ministers took that on board and approved the entire package,” he said.

This important step in the complex process of national vehicle law reform was the result of 11 multilateral meetings, two all-day workshops and 37 individual meetings.

Seven overarching themes emerged from the discussions: a flexible two-tiered fatigue system; reforms to PBS decision making; more accountability for road managers; testing some cost benefit increases in access; red tape reduction; offence and penalty reforms and more regulatory power for the regulator.

On the subject of fatigue laws, there was encouragement for detection technologies; revised medical assessments; electronic work diaries and two-tier fatigue certifications.

A review of offences and fines was suggested, in consultation with the NHVR, police forces and industry.

On the subject of accreditation, a compulsory safety management system core module has been suggested, along with electronic documentation to replace existing NHVAS paperwork. A national auditing standard will be recognised in law as part of the scheme.

The national truck law reforms are to be implemented in two parts: a new law that is being progressed by the NTC via a D-RIS, and non-legislative reforms that are to be progressed by state and territory governments, including a new national system to automate approvals for heavy vehicle access.

A Steering Committee has been formed to oversee both streams of reform and ongoing industry engagement is part of the implementation process. The Steering Committee’s task is to ensure that proposed reforms are consistent with the recommendations agreed to by the ITMM, to ensure that timeframes set by ministers are met and that an appropriate level of consultation with stakeholders is done and reflected in the reforms.

All this sounds promising, but the NTC’s proposed timeline takes up all of 2023. Ken Kanofski also pointed out that the timeline is largely out of his hands and introduction is now up to governments.

In a Q&A session, industry stalwart, Ron Finemore, asked whether he’d live long enough to see the HVNL legislated, because for many years the industry has been let down by state governments. Other grey-haired delegates agreed with him.

“The key is the proposed PBS reforms,” Ken replied. “Frankly, I’m shocked by how convoluted the current process is and I’ve made recommendations on how it can be improved.”

We’ll keep you up to date on the HVNL progress throughout the year.