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What is a road manager?

A road manager is a local council, road authority or third-party (eg. mining site or airport) that is responsible for consenting to access for restricted access vehicles (RAVs) on their roads, and the conditions under which they will operate. The Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL), requires road managers to formally consent to operation of a RAV on their roads before a permit or notice can be issued.

This empowers local government to ensure safety for all road users, protect and efficiently manage access to important council infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, and preserve and manage public amenities.

See Guidelines for granting access for more information.

What is a road authority?

In each state and territory, there is one road authority declared in the HVNL. This is usually the road or transport department or the agency in each state or territory that is responsible for freeways, highways, and other arterial roads, as well as responsible for transport regulation in general.

The road authority is also responsible for the major road network within each state and territory and will be a road manager for many applications for restricted access vehicles (RAV).

What is the role of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR)?

The NHVR considers requests for access and makes the final decision to grant a mass or dimension authority. The NHVR can only grant access if:

  • it is satisfied that the use of heavy vehicles under the authority will not pose a significant risk to public safety
  • each relevant road manager has consented to the grant
  • any other consents required by law have been obtained or given.

Managing heavy vehicles

In addition to your role as road managers, some local governments interact with the NHVR as operators and fleet managers of heavy vehicles. Some examples of vehicles that local government may oversee are buses, refuse trucks and road work vehicles.

If you operate or manage heavy vehicles, you need to have an account in the Portal to apply for access separate to your road manager account.

As an operator or fleet manager, you also need to be aware of your duties under the Chain of Responsibility

What is a heavy vehicle?

A heavy vehicle is a vehicle or combination that includes a vehicle that has a Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) or Aggregate Trailer Mass (ATM) of more than 4.5 tonnes (t).

Heavy vehicles can either be:

  • General Access Vehicles (GAV) that don't require a permit or notice to access road networks
  • Restricted Access Vehicles (RAVs) that must be provided approval through a notice or a permit before travel on any road or network.

To learn more about heavy vehicles and the NHVR, see the Introduction to heavy vehicles training module.

To understand some NHVR and heavy vehicle lingo, see the Glossary of common terms (PDF, 1.5MB).

I am new and need to get into the NHVR Portal

Approving access to your road network is done through the NHVR Portal. The NHVR Portal also includes road manager tools that assist road managers in their roles and responsibilities.

All councils will have an existing account in the NHVR Portal and if you are a brand-new person to your council, you will need to be added as a new user other users attached to your council account can add you. If the main person who dealt with the Portal account is no longer with the council, or you need help, please Contact us.

More information on how to action your role or get support can be found on our Training and support page.