NHVR submissions

The NHVR provides a number of submissions on various government policies and proposals. Some of the major submissions are provided below.


Brisbane City Council (BCC) Consultation Paper - Our Productive City: Brisbane’s Industrial Future

The NHVR’s submission aligns with the objectives, goals and actions of the Heavy Vehicle Productivity Plan 2020-2025, which was informed by feedback we have received through our constant engagement with road managers and industry.


Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Consultation Paper - Land Transport of Horses

The NHVR’s submission draws on information and feedback received through during the Livestock Supply Chain Review in 2020.


National Transport Commission Heavy Vehicle National Law Review Consultation Regulation Impact Statement

The NHVR’s submission focuses on how we can future-proof the HVNL and create a modern and flexible law for the benefit of the whole industry.


Australian Parliamentary Joint Select Committee on Road Safety - Reduce Australia’s road accident rates, trauma and deaths on our roads

The NHVR has provided this submission to the Joint Select Committee on Road Safety’s inquiry. This submission provides eight recommendations in response to the Committee’s Terms of Reference, which are relevant to the NHVR.


NSW Parliament Inquiry Joint Standing Committee on Road Safety - Reducing trauma on local roads in NSW

The NHVR’s submission outlines the collaboration required with state and local road managers to increase adoption of safer and more productive vehicles, such as Performance Based Standards (PBS) vehicles.


Productivity Commission - National Transport Regulatory Reform

The NHVR has responded to the Productivity Commission’s draft paper on National Transport Regulatory Reform.

The NHVR submission supports the relevant Productivity Commissions’ recommendations, which if implemented will deliver significant reform benefits for decades to come.


HVNL Review - Effective Enforcement Issues Paper

The NHVR responded to the final Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) Review Issues Paper on Effective Enforcement.

The NHVR’s submission identifies a range of HVNL and policy changes that if implemented would help ensure effective heavy vehicle enforcement, investigations and prosecutions. This would deliver a more efficient and effective compliance function and improved safety outcomes, including through targeted enforcement.


HVNL Review - Assurance Models Issues Paper

The NHVR responded to the sixth Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) Review Issues Paper on Assurance Models.

The NHVR believes appropriate and robust assurance is vital to ensure community trust and confidence in the regulation of the heavy vehicle industry. The NHVR has identified a number of opportunities that if implemented would support a future heavy vehicle accreditation framework designed to improve safety outcomes and reduce the regulatory burden on industry.


Commonwealth Senate Inquiry - Importance of a viable, safe, sustainable and efficient road transport industry

The NHVR has provided a submission into the Commonwealth Government’s Senate Inquiry into the importance of a viable, safe, sustainable and efficient road transport industry. While a number of the terms of reference are outside the NHVR’s mandate, the submission focuses on the relevant terms of reference through the lens of NHVR reform priorities.


HVNL Review - Vehicle Standards and Safety Issues Paper

The NHVR responded to the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) Review Issues Paper on Vehicle Standards and Safety.

The NHVR has identified a number of key areas in our submission, with a particular focus on the themes:

  • Better matching vehicle standards requirements to the operational reality on the road.
  • Ensuring national and local policy settings better support the uptake and adoption of safer and more productive vehicles, rather than discourage them.

HVNL Review - Safe People and Practices Issues Paper

The NHVR has responded to the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) Review Issues Paper Safe People and Practices.

The NHVR believes that many of these improvements are an obligation, not a choice, to deliver a stronger and more flexible platform to improve industry safety and productivity. As outlined in this submission, efficiencies will be delivered by moving to a modern risk-based safety management regime that enables the NHVR to work with all heavy vehicle users to improve safety outcomes. 


HVNL Review - Easy Access to Suitable Routes

The NHVR has responded to the third Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) Review Issues Paper on Easy Access to Suitable Routes.

Over the past five years, the NHVR has undertaken a range of significant reforms to the process for heavy vehicle operators to obtain access, including new systems such as the NHVR Portal, education and training for road managers on their role, as well as a major focus on national notices and pre-approvals to deliver easier access to the most suitable routes.

The NHVR believes that we can have safe, efficient and productive heavy vehicle movements supporting a strong and prosperous Australia achieved through developing collective awareness of heavy vehicle impacts on infrastructure; understanding of the infrastructure capacity to handle the movements; and well-formed understanding of the demand for movements. 


HVNL Review - Effective Fatigue Management

The NHVR has responded to the critically important Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) Review Issues Paper on Effective Fatigue Management.

The NHVR is uniquely positioned to understand the challenges created by the existing law as well the law’s impact on heavy vehicle users and the safety and efficiency of the broader transport task. Through the Australian Fatigue Safety Forum and subsequent meetings and workshops, the NHVR has been working with key industry representatives to develop key strategies to improve fatigue safety performance across Australia.


National Transport Regulatory Reform

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) welcomes the Productivity Commission review as a key opportunity to critically evaluate the performance of national reform to date and to identify opportunities to unlock further necessary reforms for the national transport task. 

Since the review was announced in May 2019, the NHVR has worked extensively with the Productivity Commission to provide a detailed and thorough understanding of the operations of the NHVR, while also identifying key challenges and opportunities.


HVNL Review - Risk Based Regulation

The NHVR has identified a number of key principles and priorities to guide its involvement in the review process, noting the broad alignment with the priority areas in the NTC’s issues paper.

Improvements in key areas are an obligation, not a choice to deliver a stronger and more flexible platform to improve industry safety and productivity. As outlined in the paper, efficiencies will be delivered by moving from a prescriptive approach which has high costs to an assurance and risk-based approach.


Developing technology neutral road rules for driver distraction

In May 2018, the Transport and Infrastructure Council directed the National Transport Commission (NTC) to review the Australian Road Rules that regulate driver distraction to determine whether they sufficiently address the key factors that cause driver distraction. Following a workshop in November 2018, the NTC developed an issues paper to summarise the current understanding of the factors that may cause driver distraction, the behaviours induced by those factors and their potential impacts on road safety.

The NHVR submission provides our response to the questions outlined within the NTC's issue paper Developing technology neutral road rules for driver distraction.


Queensland Freight Strategy

The NHVR supports the development of the draft Queensland Freight Strategy, which focuses on advancing freight, supporting economic growth and managing economic change in Queensland by guiding policy, planning and investment decision making over the next ten years.

The NHVR submission is unique in the sense that we are an industry regulator providing our view of how we see the ‘future state’ of heavy vehicle regulation and its impact on freight movements.


Inquiry into Transport Technology

Technology and data collection is a critical part of delivering improved road freight outcomes and the NHVR has placed significant priority on positioning itself to adopt and adapt to new technologies alongside the heavy vehicle industry.

The NHVR’s submission to the inquiry considers the challenges and opportunities in relation to technology and the heavy vehicle sector and focuses on the importance of partnering with industry and jurisdictions on the collection and sharing of data to achieve better regulatory outcomes.


NSW Draft Freight and Ports Plan

The NHVR supports the development of the NSW Draft Freight and Ports Plan, which builds on a number of successful projects delivered as part of the 2013 NSW Freight and Ports Strategy.

The NHVR submission is unique in the sense that we are an industry regulator providing our view of how we see the 'future state' of heavy vehicle regulation and its impact on freight movements. The link between transport infrastructure and land-use planning is critical.