Review of Livestock Mass, Dimension and Loading Arrangements

This consultation closed on Tuesday 20 September 2022. The NHVR is currently assessing submissions and would like to thank everyone who took the time to provide feedback..

Review of Livestock Mass, Dimension and Loading Arrangements - Discussion paper (PDF, 1.6MB)

This discussion paper is the first stage of our review into livestock access arrangements. Information in the paper has been informed by reviewing related policies and legislation, engineering analysis and discussions with industry and state and territory road authorities.

What is it?

The NHVR is conducting a review of the state-based heavy vehicle livestock loading arrangements to identify opportunities for:

• standardising and rationalising access arrangements, to minimise the compliance burden on livestock transportation in Australia, as far as reasonably practicable
• simplifying cross-border transport and improving last-mile access on local government roads
• improving safety, productivity and efficiency for the livestock transportation industry.

Why are we consulting?

We are seeking feedback from industry, government and other interested stakeholders. A number of questions have been posed throughout the discussion paper focused on:

• current arrangements.
• current known issues experienced by industry, road managers, the NHVR and other relevant parties.
• options proposed for reform of livestock transport access arrangements.

Feedback on these questions will assist us to determine the best way forward to work with industry and governments to improve livestock transportation in Australia, to deliver a safe, productive and efficient livestock industry. Opportunities include:

• maintaining and growing the access and productivity benefits offered by volumetric loading
• adopting a national set of eligible livestock vehicles to ensure seamless operation across borders
• reducing the regulatory and administrative burden by removing the requirement to enrol in a scheme
• finding ways to ensure drivers are properly trained on livestock loading and related issues
• exploring ways to broaden and harmonise the current definition of livestock
• increasing the benefits of livestock loading arrangements on local roads.

Background

The livestock industry is subject to a variety of national, state and territory transport and non-transport laws including:

• the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL), which governs driver fatigue, vehicle standards, mass, dimension and loading
• state and territory transport laws for road rules, such as vehicle speed limits and licencing
• non-transport laws such as animal welfare laws, quarantine, biosecurity, export controls, land transport standards and guidelines for animal welfare, food standards and traceability of product, and work health and safety.

These regulatory arrangements were originally developed by individual state and territory governments, prior to the HVNL and NHVR commencing. Most arrangements have remained unchanged since then.

Submissions

The NHVR is considering all submissions, whether published or not.

Unless clearly marked ‘IN CONFIDENCE’, submissions received have been published on this page. The NHVR also reserves the right to edit or redact part or all of a submission, or withhold a submission from publication on any grounds, including but not limited to, offensive language, potentially defamatory material or copyright-infringing material.

The NHVR privacy policy outlines the use and disclosure of any personal information provided to us, including accessing and correcting personal information.