EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

 

Select Legislative Instrument 2008 No. 152

 

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government

 

National Transport Commission Act 2003

 

National Transport Commission (Model Act on Heavy Vehicle Speeding Compliance) Regulations 2008

 

Section 52 of the National Transport Commission Act 2003 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.

 

The provisions of the Act are supported by the Inter-Governmental Agreement on Regulatory and Operational Reform in Road, Rail and Intermodal Transport (IGA), which serves to formalise the cooperative arrangements between the Commonwealth, States and Territories and define the roles and responsibilities of the National Transport Commission, the Australian Transport Council and the jurisdictions. Clause 14 of the IGA requires the Commonwealth to submit model legislation for inclusion in schedules to regulations under the Act. The proposed Regulations would implement this commitment.

 

The purpose of the Regulations is to improve road safety and compliance with road safety laws by imposing responsibility in relation to speeding by heavy vehicles on those whose business activities influence the conduct of the drivers of those vehicles. The model Act impose a regulatory change by creating a chain of responsibility for heavy vehicle speeding. The model Act is in model form to allow for implementation in each jurisdiction using the most convenient and effective regulatory manner available – for instance, the provisions may be incorporated into the law of a jurisdiction by way of amendment of existing legislation.

 

The objects of the model Act are to:

 

(a)    create a chain of responsibility for speed compliance;

(b)   impose specific duties and offences for each party in the transport chain who can influence whether or not speeding occurs;

(c)    identify the parties in the transport chain to whom the chain of responsibility applies (specifically employers, prime contractors, operators, schedulers, loading managers, consignors and consignees);

(d)   require those parties identified in the model Act as having a specific duty to take reasonable steps to ensure that their conduct does not cause the driver to exceed speed limits; and

(e)    forbid requests, agreements and contracts which may result in a heavy vehicle driver exceeding the speed limit.

 

The National Transport Commission (Model Act on Heavy Vehicle Speeding Compliance) Regulations 2008 was developed following extensive consultations between the National Transport Commission (NTC), industry, police services and Commonwealth, State and Territory departments and agencies. The Regulations are a direct result of the National Heavy Vehicle Safety Strategy (NHVSS) 2003-2010, which was approved by the Australian Transport Council (ATC). The NHVSS aims to reduce the number of fatalities and injuries arising from accidents involving heavy vehicles. One of the strategic objectives outlined by the NHVSS is better speed management, as it has been identified as one of the links between speed and better heavy vehicle safety outcomes. As part of the commitment to the NHVSS, the NTC undertook a review of regulatory approached to heavy vehicle speed compliance, releasing a discussion paper, Heavy Vehicle Speed Compliance: Reviews of Regulatory Approaches, in October 2005. Following the discussion paper the NTC developed a draft policy proposal and draft Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS), releasing them in December 2006 for public comment. The RIS was assessed and approved by the Commonwealth Office of Regulation Review. Following the end of the public consultation period the NTC convened a working group comprising transport agencies and police services to aid in the development of the finalized proposal.

 

In October 2007, the NTC submitted the draft National Transport Commission (Model Act on Heavy Vehicle Speeding Compliance) Regulations and Speed Compliance of Heavy Vehicles: Final Proposal and Regulatory Impact Statement, to the ATC recommending that it approve a chain of responsibility for speed compliance. The ATC unanimously approved the proposal and the model Regulations in January 2008.

 

Section 7 of the Act provides that the regulations may set out model legislation, being legislation developed by the NTC in accordance with the IGA. Paragraph 7(2)(a) provides that model legislation does not have the force of law. The schedules to the regulations serve only as a repository for nationally agreed reforms, which may then be implemented by jurisdictions.

 

Item 44 of the table to subsection 44(2) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 together with item 7 of Schedule 2 to the Legislative Instruments Regulations 2004 operate to provide that the proposed Regulation would not be subject to disallowance. In addition, item 51 of the table to subsection 54(2) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 together with item 4 of Schedule 3 to the Legislative Instruments Regulations 2004 operate to provide that the proposed Regulation would not be subject to sunsetting.