Edition 69, July 2009

National transport regulation agreement

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has agreed to implement national regulation for maritime safety, rail safety and heavy vehicles.

The decision will mean improved safety and reduced costs and regulatory burden for Australian transport companies as well as reduced costs of exports and trade.

These reforms will mean that the Australian Maritime Safety Authority will become the national safety regulator for all commercial shipping in Australian waters.

A single national heavy vehicle regulator will also be established to regulate all vehicles over 4.5 gross tonnes, ending the separate and at times conflicting regulatory imposts on the heavy vehicle industry.

COAG agreed to develop a national rail safety regulatory system with further consideration of the scope and form of the regulator following receipt of advice at the end of 2009 from the Standing Committee on Transport on specific safety requirements within jurisdictions, especially in relation to urban systems and the interface with interstate and freight operations. The Australian Transport Council will report to COAG at its first meeting in 2010 on progress in developing a national rail safety regulatory system and investigator with a view to bringing the final NP to COAG for approval by mid-2011. This advice should consider all options, including how to strengthen the effectiveness of the Rail Safety Regulators Panel.

These national arrangements will remove inefficiencies arising from inconsistent jurisdictional requirements, streamline the regulatory arrangements and thus reduce the compliance burden for business, and reduce transport costs more generally. Importantly, the efficiencies to be gained in moving to national transport safety regimes will not compromise safety. In fact, the better assessment of risk and more efficient allocation of resources through a national scheme will improve the safety of these key transport sectors.

COAG also commissioned the next stage of the research needed to move towards more efficient heavy vehicle charging under the COAG Road Reform Plan.

For more information visit www.coag.gov.au/coag_meeting_outcomes/2009-07-02/index.cfm

This page was generated on 09 October, 2009

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