Edition 68, June 2009

Australian Transport Council recommends national regulation

The Australian Transport Council has recommended that the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agree on a transition to single national regulators to cover maritime safety, heavy vehicles, rail safety and rail investigation.

COAG asked the ATC in September 2008 to prepare Regulatory Impact Statements (RISs) on single national systems in each of these areas.

At its May meeting, the ATC agreed to endorse each of the three final RISs for submission to COAG. The recommended option in each RIS is for a single national regulator. Broadly, ATC is recommending that COAG agree to proceed to further develop arrangements so that by 2013:

  • the Australian Maritime Safety Authority would become the sole national regulator of all commercial vessels operating in Australian waters
  • a new national heavy vehicle regulator would become responsible for regulating all vehicles over 4.5 gross tonnes, with a commitment to ongoing improvements to safety and the preservation of local productivity initiatives,
  • a national rail safety regulator would provide a one-stop shop for all those operating in and on our rail networks
  • the Australian Transport Safety Bureau would become the preferred national rail safety incident investigator.

In its communique', the ATC stated that it recognises that there are many issues both of principle and of detail to be worked out to deliver these consolidated national regulatory approaches.

The communique' said that the ATC is proposing to resolve certain key matters first and report to COAG in each case not later than the middle of 2010. These matters include which jurisdiction will host the proposed national regulator and the laws for rail and heavy vehicles, and how implementation and ongoing costs for each national system will be met. These governance and financial arrangements would then be embodied in national partnership agreements prior to the new national systems coming into initial effect in 2012, with a view to full implementation by 2013.

The ATC comprises transport ministers from the Commonwealth and states and territories together with the New Zealand Minister for Transport and a representative of the Australian Local Government Association.

For more information and to read the communique' visit www.atcouncil.gov.au/communique/ATCCommunique_0509.aspx

This page was generated on 09 October, 2009

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